Fleeting Memories
by Iris Cal
Summary: When the powers of a crystal black as night threaten Vana'diel, what will it cost an amnesiac Paladin, a former Red Mage, a lecherous Ranger, and a vengeful Dragoon to restore order? FF, moderately violent, Spoiler warning, but most importantly, COMPLETE!
1. A Whole New World

BEFORE YOU BEGIN READING:

This is an PG-13-rated story. This means that there will be some foul language, suggestive discussion and action, and particularly violent scenes. However, according to the rating guidelines of FFnet, I will not include much (if any, I never really planned to anyway) explicit material. It does, however, include a decidedly lesbian relationship, so if you are morally offended by this, read no further.

LEGAL JARGON:

Any similarities between names of characters (that are not already specified by the game this fan-fiction is based upon) in this fan-fiction and those of real characters, people, places, or things in any other aspect of the universe is purely coincidental. In fact, almost all characters are either fashioned by myself or inspired by someone who has given their full consent to have their character represented in this story. All in-game characters, places, things, and concepts related to Final Fantasy XI are probably copyright to Square-Enix in one way or another, and are in use of the author according to the Fair Use Rule of 1995. Any other actual things mentioned are also copyright their respective creators/owners. This work itself is copyright to me, the author, so keep your dirty mitts off!

CHAPTER 1

A Whole New World

1

Emergence

_An excerpt from the diary of Seles, page 1_

_Lightsday, 3/2/892_

_I can remember waking to total darkness. I felt nothing, saw nothing, knew nothing save for the fact of my existance. I gathered that I was standing on a hard surface; an idea came to mind that it was stone. I remember walking forward a few paces and finding a light ahead of me. As I walked, I knew that there was something different. I was knowledgeable, academically alert. I was able to know that I was a post-teenage girl, Hume in race. I knew how to talk, how to add, and how to reason._

_I didn't, however, remember my life before awaking in that dark tunnel. My parents, my home, my name, these were all unknown to me. What was more, I could remember nothing of the world. I knew nothing of my own body, of the world, or of the senses with which I could percieve that world. I wanted to find out. Maybe that's why I walked toward the light._

Seles stepped out into a world of white and blue. She was in a city of white stone, made bright by the sun, which was cast in a sky of clear, vivid blue. A gentle breeze blew past, startling her with its feel on her skin. It felt very awkward to know what a breeze was, yet never remember feeling it before. Realizing something, she checked for her hands, (they were there,) her feet, (these were also there,) and her head (which seemed to be attached.) She walked around, exploring the world around her with her senses, feeling the texture of the stone ground, the cool wet feel of the fountain water, smelling the chemical odors of industry wafting from the looming building to the south.

There were people around, but they all but ignored her except to rest their eyes on her an instant before dismissing her as unimportant and turning their attention elsewhere. She noticed that the men's eyes lingered on her a little longer than the women's, and a few of them stared for a few seconds. This led her to follow her gaze to her body, and she examined the clothes she was wearing. She was wearing a simple white and blue vest lined with leather. She glanced over her moderate bust to see that her vest covered her slim waist and turned into a short, light brown leather skirt that just covered a pair of pants, showing over half of her thighs. She was wearing boots that matched her vest and came up to her knees.

She stood there look around until one young woman, who had been watching her for quite some time now, approached her. She was a bit shorter than Seles, and she wore her thick golden-brown hair down to her shoulders. One side was drawn back with a silver hairpin, and on the other, her hair fell down over her eye. However, it was partially hidden by the cap she wore over most of her head, covering her ears. She was of a slim build, wearing a brownish soft-looking doublet, matching pants, boots, and gloves. Her modest bust and gentle, inconspicuous curve of hip seemed to complement the style of dress perfectly.

The stranger examined her in much the way she herself had, for a brief second before saying simply, "Hello!"

Seles answered, "Hello..." trying out her own voice. The stranger seemed friendly enough. She was smiling a cheerful smile and Seles could not help but smile back.

"My name's Aleya," the stranger said. "What's yours?"

This was a problem. Seles, at the time, did not know her own name. "I...don't know," she said truthfully, somewhat dispirited.

"You mean you can't remember?" Aleya asked, looking curious. "Maybe you have amnesia?" Seles knew about amnesia. It was where you lost your memory.

"That may be it," Seles said.

"Then I'll give you one." Aleya thought hard. "Umm, how about...Seles! That's it, I'll name you after my grandmum," she said triumphantly.

"Seles..." For some reason, the name simply sounded right. She tried the sound in her mouth once again, to be sure. "Seles. My name is Seles."

"So you can't remember anything from before? Since when?"

"A few minutes ago. Everything feels new to me."

"But you still know stuff, right? Like, you're talking to me. That means you know about language." Aleya took a piece of parchment our of her pocket, and scribbled something on it with a fountain pen. "Can you read this?"

"The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog," Seles read. This only made her more puzzled. How was it that she remembered things like this, but not the experiences in her past life?

"Well, that settles it. I'm going to try and cure you of this," Aleya said resolutely. Seles looked apprehensive.

"Umm, how long will that take?" Seles asked.

"As long as I need to! Come on, it'll be fun!" Aleya responded, her face beaming.

Seles thought. She didnÕt exactly have anything else to do, and she had no idea how to support herself in this world. She heard a low grumble from her stomach. Speaking of supporting herself...

"Well, okay, but can we get something to eat first? I'm starved." Seles answered.

-

Aleya led Seles on a cobblestoned street. Seles took in the sights, sounds, and smells of one of the most diverse areas of the city, the Port. Bazaars and kiosks lined the path, their owners calling out to passersby. One stall caught Aleya's eye.

"Stay here for a minute, I'm going to go buy something," she said.

Seles waited obediently, and watched as Aleya and the man inside the tent began to haggle. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed that a man was walking up to her. He was taller than her and like her, a Hume. His long blond hair fall neatly to either side of his narrow face, which was flawless. His shoulders weren't too broad or to narrow, and he was dressed in festive clothing; a simple gambison suit and a red feathered cap.

"Good afternoon, miss," he said, making an elaborate bow. "I've been watching you for a time, and I like what I see."

Seles looked at him, puzzled. "What? What do you see?"

The tall, sophisticated-looking man faltered, but continued, "Might the vision of loveliness before me grant me a name?"

Seles became concerned. "Visions?" she asked. "Hallucinations? Should I get you some help?"

"I...no, I'm perfectly fine." the Hume replied. "Might you at least tell me your name?"

"Oh!" Seles answered. "I'm Seles."

"Such a beautiful name!" the man exclaimed. Seles blushed, finally recognizing a compliment.

"It"s not that special, really," Seles said.

"But it is!" the man protested. "It's exquisi--"

"Hey, Len!" a voice yelled from a distance. "You gonna stand there and hit on the girls all day? C'mon, we got stuff to do!"

'Len' winced. "I'm sorry, my lady, it appears I must take my leave. Surely we shall meet again. Until next time!" With that, 'Len' ran off in the direction of the voice.

Seles was rather glad to be away from him. At certain points throughout the conversation, Seles had been under the impression that 'Len' hadn't been talking to her face, but rather, to her body. It had made her uncomfortable.

At that point, Aleya returned, holding a book and a long package. "Who was that man?" she asked.

Seles blushed. "I don't know."

"Well, at any rate, I got you something." Aleya gave the book to Seles. Opening it, Seles found that its pages were blank. "It's a diary. Write in it everything that happens. It's strictly private, so there's nothing you can't tell it."

"Th-thank you!" Seles stammered at Aleya's generosity.

-

"Seles?" Aleya asked.

"Mmm, fmm?" Seles responded with a full mouth. They were in the Steaming Sheep, sitting at one of the smaller tables. The atmosphere was dim and smoky, and a scruffy-looking man in a long coat was hammering out 'Johnny C. Bad' on a badly out of tune piano. Seles took a big swallow. The food tasted so good, but she was getting full. "Yeah?" she asked.

"What d'you think about going to San d'Oria?" Aleya asked.

"Huh?" Seles asked, puzzled, "Who's Sandora? Can she help me remember--"

"No, no, silly," Aleya laughed, "The Keep of San d'Oria is the home of the proud Elvaan, to the north of here. I grew up there," she added proudly. "Plus, I know someone there who may be able to help you."

"Alright, then." If anything, Seles wanted to see more of the world. She had a feeling, an intuition that dry, arid Bastok was not the only place in the world, and Aleya had jusr confirmed that. Now, she had to see it for herself. "And after that, I want to see more. Not just Sandora--" ("San d'Oria!" Aleya corrected.) "--but the rest of the world!"

"It's an adventure, then!" Aleya said, beaming, and finished her Mithkabob. "Mmm, that hit the spot! I hate this city, but there's no better hostel on all of Quon!"

"It was really good," Seles agreed. Food had been the first thing she could really identify with. Right away, she had been able to tell what tasted good and what tasted bad.

"We better get to bed now, we leave tomorrow!" Aleya said, flagging a waitress and paying, remembering her usual generous tip.

-

Seles slid into the bed opposite Aleya's. The rooms included a stationery set, and she borrowed the fountain pen, opened her book to the first page, and began writing.

_Today marks the first day of my life as I know it. I remember nothing from before emerging from that tunnel, but I've already made a friend. Aleya is a nice lady; she has offered to take me to Sandoria (or however that's called) to help me get my memory back. We depart tomorrow._

Finished, Seles lay back in her bed. What would the new day hold? She tried once again to remember something, anything, but she drew a total blank. As she settled into her pillow, the softness of the bedding overwhelmed her tired body, and she sank into a deep sleep.

-

Lexus spun about in his chair. The Hume's face was contorted in mild surprise. A likeness of his master had appeared before him, and this always startled him. However, he took it gracefully, replying, "My lord! Upon what occasion does Your Magnificence grace us with his presence?"

"The leverage has appeared. It is time for you to prove your devotion to me. Sway her to our side. If that fails, kill her. That is all."

"Yes, master." Lexus bowed his head deeply as the apparition vanished. He then spun again in his chair. "Darx!" he ordered, "Execute Plan 279!"

"Sir," Darx replied, puzzled, "There...is...no Plan 279."

"Ugh. Fine! Then begin Procedure 42!"

"Sir..." Darx said, hesitant, "There is no Procedure...Wait, yes there is! I'll do immediately."

Lexus smiled. Now he was getting somewhere. Remembering something, he said, "Bring me Graft! I wish to speak with him."

"Right away, sir!" Darx replied, relieved. Master always had ways of making him hurt for not obeying orders to the letter.

From out of the back door, appeared a cook. The swarthy man held proudly aloft a dish of Mithkabobs and presented it to Lexus. Lexus stared, puzzled. "Darx! What is the meaning of this?!"

"These are the Mithkabobs you ordered, sir. Dish 42!"

"Remind me to hurt you, Darx," Lexus said, snatching a Mithkabob and gnawing on it.

Darx cringed.

-

2

Outset

Graft stood at attention and saluted smartly. "What news from our master?"

Lexus began walking toward him. "Be at ease. The leverage has appeared. At the moment, she is travelling north towards San d'Oria."

Graft, however, tensed all the more at the news. "You don't mean...?"

Lexus nodded. "Yes. Once she is brought under my wing, she will be completely under my control, and with her, and your...help, I"ll have the power to do what I wish. Within our Master's will, of course," he added.

Graft suspected foul play the instent those words escaped Lexus' mouth, but let nothing show. "Have you any orders for me?" he asked.

"Ah, yes," Lexus said, "How goes your buisness?"

"We've nearly reached our quota. We have just enough. More importantly, my faith in our operation has been restored...if what you say is true. We'll have an individual actually compatible with the compound. Oh yeah," Graft said, "who is the leverage? Will she be difficult to sway?"

"From what I've been informed, she's a girl barely out of adolesence; young minds are easy to break."

"Excellent." Graft flashed a cold smirk. "Is there anything else?"

"No. You may go now." Lexus saluted and turned away.

Graft didn't favor him with a salute, knowing he wouldn't see.

-

Aleya checked once more around the room to make sure she hadn't forgotten anything. Good, she had remembered everything. She made her way downstairs, paid the inkeeper ("You're welcome back any time, you know that!" the ineeper said. Aleya was obviously a regular here.) and stepped outside to find Seles waiting. Her own pack was considerably lighter than Aleya's; it had only one item in it, the diary.

"Well, then, shall we?" Aleya asked briskly.

"Alright," Seles replied. Aleya led her through town to the gate, where a chocobo-drawn carriage was waiting.

"We'll be travelling in this," she said. "The monsters usually won't attack chocobos. I suppose the smell drives them away. We'll be safe. Besides, we have guards.'

Both Humes, the guards wore heavy armor and carried lethal-looking weaponry. They were standing near the wall, talking between themselves and making rather crude gestures. They certainly looked experienced. Each held the reins of a Chocobo.

"Let's go, then!" So said Seles, eager to see the world outside.

-

"So, where is San d'Oria?" Seles asked.

"You mean you didn't know? It"s to the north of here, about two days' journey. We'll stay the night at the Sailor's Stay in Selbina."

"Selbina?"

"It's a fishing town in the middle of Zulkheim." Aleya sighed, seeing the blank look on Seles' face. "Don't tell me...you don't know what Zulkheim is, do you?"

"I'm sorry, no." Seles looked apologetic.

Aleya felt compassion. "Don't be sorry. You don't remember anything about this world?" Seles shook her head, embarrased. "Don't worry, then, I'll try to help jog your memory.

"The world we live in," Aleya began, "Is called Vana'diel. In this world exists six major cities. We just left the Republic of Bastok, a nation built on the revenue from mines. The city we're travelling to is the Kingdom of San d'Oria, a land of honor and walls and steels. Far to the east is the Federation of Windurst, a peaceful nation of scholars and magicians.

"Situated between the three great nations is the city-state called the Grand Duchy of Jeuno. Jeuno has acted as a peacekeeper between the rivalous three nations ever since the Shadow War. Southeast of Windurst, on tropical Elshimo Island, is Kazham, and southwest of Bastok is Rabao, on the arid Kuzotz."

Seles listened in rapt attention as Aleya described the peoples of each region and their cultures. She proved to be quite well traveled and worldly. The day wore on, and they passed from Gustaberg into Konschtat, and Aleya began telling her about the history of the region. Seles listened, her full attention on Aleya. She drank in the knowledge thirstily.

"Wow," Seles said, enchanted, after Aleya had discussed with her the First and Second batttles of Konschtat. "How do you know so much?"

"I studied history in Windurst." Aleya said simply, not wanting to say anything more. Seles sensed that that was not all, but she let it alone. As the day wore on into evening, they passed through Konschtat into the Valkurm Dunes.

It was dusk when the little troupe entered Selbina. It was a lively town, even at this time of day. There were adventurers of all types everywhere. There were more merchants here than even in Bastok, foregoing tents and even cloths to purvey their wares. It was through this jumble that Aleya led a small parade consisting of herself, Seles, the driver, and their silent guards, making for the inn.

-

Lexus surveyed the bugbear from outside the armored cell. "I have a job for you, Gruk. Do you want to kill?"

Something between a growl and a roar issued from the darkness within. "Mmmfgrrrr, yes! Gruk want kill!"

Lexus smirked. This creature was predictable. Stupid, yes, though quite strong. It stood a hulking eleven feet, and its body rippled with muscles. Atop the broad shoulders hung an oversized goblin's head, with tufted drooping ears and long snout covered by a mask. "There is a small group traveling in a chocobo-drawn wagon, two women, and they are guarded by two mercenaries. They are staying on the main road to San d'Oria." Lexus smiled. Why try to sway her to their side? Graft's plan would never work. Better just to do away with them and rid his master of the problem. He tossed a bedsheet towards Gruk, who caught it up and sniffed at it. It was the bedsheet from the same bed as Aleya had slept on. "Find them. Kill that one first, then the rest if you so desire."

Gruk roared a gutteral consent. "Ungh! Free Gruk! Gruk want smash! Gruk rip them!" That was one thing Gruk had going for it; it was an excellent tracker. When it wasn't driven mindless by the rage of battle, it was quite cunning.

Lexus threw a switch outside the cell. There was a sound of machinery, and the wall opposite the bars sank into the floor, revealing Northern Gustaberg. With a fierce growl of joy and desire for carnage, it leapt out and sped in leaping bounds northward.

-

Seles, full once again, sighed contentedly. Making for the bedroom, she noticed Aleya wasn't following and inquired concernedly, "Are you not sleepy? That was a big meal you ate."

"No, I'm okay, I have things to do still." Aleya said. Seles was too tired to see the strange look in Aleya's eyes. Mumbling consent, she turned and headed to her room.

Aleya got up, and walked down to the docks. It was a warm night, seasoned by a cool breeze. A hand on the railing, she stared out into the sea. People passing by saw nothing but a Hume girl staring out to see and putting fingers to her lips, but they could not see the conflict of a thousand emotions within her. After about half an hour, she walked back to the inn. Her inner conflict still unresolved, she stowed it away in the back of her mind and forced herself to once again be happy.

-

Gruk ran tirelessly north through Zulkheim, ignoring the trail of his quarry when it led west toward Selbina. Remembering its master's words, ("...They will stay on the main road to San d'Oria...") it continued north.

-

_An excerpt from the diary of Seles_

_Darksday 3/3/982_

_Today was a day of learning. There is so much to learn, and Aleya is willing to teach me everything. She's a nice woman; she seems incapable of an unhappy thought. We traveled to Selbina today on our way to Sandoria. (I'm still not sure how to spell that.) On the way, Aleya taught me much of the surrounding land. I would never have imagined that I'd want to learn so badly, or that I'd remember so well the things I learn. Perhaps I'm to be a scholar or professor. Aleya mentioned Windurst, a land of magic and learning. I should like to visit someday._

_Aleya seemed preoccupied at dinner, though, and asked to be left alone. I can't help but wonder..._

-

3

Running

The next morning saw them once again on the road. Heading north once again, they passed through Valkurm into La Theine. About an hour into La Theine, and the sky was overcast with clouds incoming from the south. A smell and a general atmosphere told of rain to come.

As they came around the ridge, Seles saw something white through the trees ahead. Then there was a turn in the road, and she lost sight of it. Then, free of the trees, the road turned back to its original direction. What Seles saw then immediately made her curious. It was white, and something of a cross between a fortress and a tooth.

"It's a Crag," Aleya said before Seles could even ask. "They're all over Vana'diel. No one knows who made them, or why. We do use them though, as points of direct teleportation. This one's called Holla."

The road then turned again, but Seles kept sight of the crag. Then they passed behind another ridge. This time, the road slowly climbed it. As they reached the top, Seles got her third sight of the Crag. She felt her jaw go slack with astonishment - From what she had seen of Selbina, one could easily fit all of it in the space it took up, or take a cross section and stand it on end and not even reach the top.

"It's so..." Seles started, but stopped, fearing her next word would be an understatement.

"Big." Aleya supplied inadequately. Seles looked over at her to see that she was staring at it too, though she seemed not so much aweful as impressed. Aleya looked over as Seles, and laughed at seeing the look on her face. "I'd imagine I looked just like that when I first saw Holla. But, we don't have all day to spend here. We should be going."

"Right," said Seles, "Let's go!" Aleya urged the chocobos onward. The guards glanced at each other, and followed mutely on their Chocobos.

-

It was dusk when they reached the outskirts of the forests of Ronfaure. As they did, the scattered ruins they had seen throughout La Theine began to take shape.

"Those were the tombs of past kings. Now, they are little more than ruins." A peal of thunder sounded in the distance. "We should hurry unless we want to spend the night in them. Worse things than goblins lurk there." Something rustled in the bushes, and Seles felt a chill down her back.

As they hurried on, the sky grew even darker and it was hard to see the trail. A few cold drops of rain landed on Seles, and then the heavens opened up and the sprinkles became a deluge. Aleya urged the Chocobos to run, and run they did. It was becoming very cold due to the wind and rain, so cold that neither Seles or Aleya noticed that their omnipresent guards had disappeared. One thing did catch their attention, however; a light appeared had up ahead.

"That's the Outpost!" Aleya yelled over the howling wind and rain. "If we can reach it, we'll--YEEEEE!" She screamed as the wagon lurched. Seles became disoriented as the center of gravity in the wagon shifted this way and that. It seemed as if it was being lifted into the air. Then both women were hurled against one side the wagon was thrown against a nearby tree, splintering into pieces, and sending Seles and Aleya to the wet ground.

Seles got up at once, checking quickly to make sure nothing was broken. She wasn't hurt, but she was a bit dizzy. Shaking her head and clearing herself, she looked around to find Aleya. Aleya was still sprawled on the ground. Seles rushed over to her.

"Aleya! Are you okay?" she asked worriedly.

Aleya stirred and rose. "I think so. What was that?"

"I don't..." Seles started but was cut off by the sound of something very heavy splashing into mud behind them. Her mind raced. It was one of the guards.

Or what was left of him.

A towering figure stepped out of the darkness and over the bloodied torso. It emitted a huge, gutteral roar. "Gruk see two women!" It paused, trying to think - or seeming to. "Gruk kill!" it concluded gleefully. As it began walking forward, Seles" first thought was to flee, but she found she couldn't look away from the monster! Paralyzed by fear, she could only watch as it lumbered closer and closer...

What happened next seemed to pass so fast that Seles could barely remember the details. A rock hit the monster from Aleya's direction. The monster, enraged, turned to Aleya. In that instant, it was as if a spell was broken, and Seles turned her head toward Aleya.

"GO! Make for the outpost! If I'm not there, make northeast for Sandy!" Aleya screamed "I'll catch up!" Seles hesitated; she could not leave her friend to die here! She started toward her, but Aleya motioned for her to stay back. "Just RUN!" she screamed. Finally, Seles ran.

As she ran, she cursed herself for her cowardice, her eagerness to obey the command to run. She should have stayed, but what good would she have done? As she ran, her tears mingled with rain.

-

Aleya stared the Bugbear down. It had been such a long time since she had fought anything, and she was unsure whether she could take it on. So she ran. Not towards the outpost, since she wanted to keep Seles safe, but back toward the tombs that lined the southern edge of the forest. She never heard anything but thudding footsteps behind her and was unable to tell whether it was gaining or not. Her path became narrower and walled in as she ran, and made several twists and turns. After a while, the thudding footsteps stopped. The bugbear must have lost her scent, confused in the frenzy of the chase. If she knew bugbears, it would take a while to catch her scent again, and by then, she'd be long gone.

But speaking of gone, where was the exit?

-

Aleya walked through the ruins, filled with worry, as night slowly turned to day. She had gotten about five hours of fitful sleep. She was unkempt, tired, and cold. But overall, she was worried about Seles, about whether she could manage on her own. It had been a while since she had cared so much about anyone like that. A memory came to her mind at this thought. Why, the last person she had cared so much about was...

_Aleya sat down and started to cry softly. She would die in these damned ruins, she just knew it! She had spent a day wandering around in the maze-like passages, and her food supply was running low. Suddenly, a voice came from a ways down the corridor._

"_Hey! Are you lost?" the woman asked. Aleya looked up to see an adventurer with white scale mail adorning her body and a circlet across her forehead. Her hair was drawn back into a high ponytail, leaving her bangs brushed to either side. Aleya, stunned, nodded, not knowing what to say._

"_I can lead you out if you want." Her voice was so sympathetic and caring. "I used to get lost here all the time."_

"_Oh, would you?" Aleya asked._

"_Here, better yet, I'll teach you the layout of these tombs, so you don't ever get lost again. My name's Relmm, what's yous?"_

"_A...Aleya." Aleya took Relmm's hand and shook it._

_They spent the rest of the day in those tombs. Relmm took her and showed her every nook and cranny. They talked about themselves, opened up to each other. Aleya had problems, and Relmm had either answers, or ways of making the problems seem so insignificant that Aleya wondered why she worried about them in the first place. By the end of that day, Aleya had fallen in love._

She shook her head violently, shoving away the thought. Thinking about it would only make it hurt again. Nevertheless, she recognized where she was now. Making a left turn, she passed an open area that housed what was said to be the grave of the late Queen. She noticed immediately that she wasn't alone. Two figures, cloaked in black robes, were conversing. Reason told her not to get involved, but curiosity immediately won over, and she crouched behind a wall, and listened.

"...chose an interesting place to meet."

"I...my master deemed it...fitting."

"Shall we discuss terms then?"

"We shall."

"I demand that your master ceases his operations."

"What?!"

"I waited for hundreds, nay, thousands of years building my strength, and am not to be suddenly replaced by an upstart just recently revived, Overlord though he may have been. There is a new world power now; he's lost his footing with the destruction of Fei'Yin. The City in the Sky will never be realized. Already, there are forces at work to bring a halt to his plans."

"Are you saying you are committing treason?!"

"If I said I were, what then?"

"My master will not be pleased."

"I believe you know what I think of your master already."

"Then there is no more reason for me to interact with you."

"Good-day, then."

Aleya heard the unmistakable sounds of two separate warp spells being cast, and immediately she looked back at the tomb, not believing what she had heard. Fei'Yin? A city in the sky? What did it mean?

-

The night before found Seles running. Suddenly, she tripped over something large in the path. She fell face forward into the mud. There she lay, and began weeping uncontrollably. She cried herself to sleep there in the mud. She should have died there, but for some reason, no creatures would come near. Thought the night, nightmares plagued her constantly until she awoke in the morning.

It had stopped raining, but she was still wet and dirty all over. She got up to see what she had tripped over, but shen she did, she gagged, and tried to force down the bile rising in her throat. It was one of the guards. His body, legs, and right arm were still in tact, but of his left arm or head there was no sign, and tooth marks surrounded the place wherre they shouldÕve been connected to the body. His right arm clutched his sword in a deathgrip. He had never said much...but he had always been there. He had defended them to the very end, and Seles had never known his name. She carried the body off the road and in the dim light of the early morning, hid it in a small cave after prying the sword out of his hands. She had not a shovel, so digging a grave was out of the question.

It was odd, though. She sword seemed to fit so comfortably in her hands. She had considered laying it to rest beside this owner, but he had died fighting the monster, and would want revenge. Seles could avenge him...and Aleya. She grasped the sword more firmly, noting its weight and dull shine in the morning light.

Putting on the former guard's belt (and adjusting the size down by five marks,) she sheathed the sword and walked determinedly northeast, bypassing the outpost. She made for San d'Oria, deciding that she should first recuperate in the shelter of the city before seeking out the monster.

-

END Chapter 1

To be continued.

Notes

Seles is modelled after my more serious side. She's intellectual, inquisitive, and open, as well as very naive. In the next chapter, she becomes even more serious.

Aleya is modeled after my FFXI character, and is the epitome of cheerfulness. I had trouble deciding where I wanted to go with her personality throughout the story, but I finally decided. No, I'm not telling you yet, you gotta wait and find out!

'Len' represents all the amorous men I've met in my experience with FFXI. I'll bring him back in the next chapter.

Johnny C. Bad is a song from the Final Fantasy III/VI soundtrack; it plays in some taverns in the game, and has an upbeat twelve-bar-blues theme.

The number 42 is described in 'Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy' as being the answer to Life, the Universe, and Everything. I'm inclined to agree.

I don't know how chocobo-drawn wagons would be physically possible, so don't ask.

If you read this story before 11/19/04 at 5PM CST, you may notice some changes due to my inexperience with FFnet.

-

Coming next in Chapter 2

_At that moment, a shrill cry sounded behind her. Looking back over her shoulder, and then turning around, Seles saw what could only be a Tarutaru running as fast as her little legs would take her. Behind her trailed three large figures, which by Aleya's description must be Orcs. Almost reflexively, she put her hand on the hilt of her sword. Then she did something she'd have never thought possible. Drawing out some inner force, she reached out with it toward the lead orc, ripping it's attention away from the Tarutaru. Immediately, it changed course, and charged at her as if it had been chasing her all along. The other two, under the command of the lead orc, followed it._


	2. Echoes from the Past

Chapter 2

Echoes of the Past

-

4

Strong

Seles could see them now. Stone spires, towering high above the surrounding forest. San d'Oria. She would recuperate, then strike out on a journey to kill 'Gruk'. Immediately, she made in the direction of the tallest tower.

-

Aleya was almost out of the ruins. Two more right turns to make, and she'd be out. Suddenly, there was a great stink permeating the air, catching her off guard and causing her to gag. She rushed around the corner, desperate to lost the stench in the wide open forest of Ronfaure...and collided with something huge.

"Mmmmggrrrr!" the large figure growled in recognition, "It girl from before! Kill!"

"Wait!" Aleya yelled, sparked by a sudden inspiration. "You're lost here, aren't you?"

"Not matter! Gruk found prey! Now kill!" The giant beast lumbered closer as Aleya started backing up nervously.

"If you can't find a way out, you'll die here," Aleya said matter-of-factly.

"Guhh..." The bugbear was obviously trying to think. "Not know way out..."

"I'll make a deal with you. If you don't kill me, I'll get you out of here, and find you some orcs to kill."

"But...Master's orders..."

Aleya megan motioning obviously with her hands as she talked. "I know a place with lots and lots of things to kill!"

This seemed to intrigue the bugbear. Strange, this one was smarter than most she had seen. (which wasn't saying much) It had actually remembered it's master's orders for a few seconds. She wondered how much smarter it could be. "Follow me," she said.

And so she lead the bugbear out of the tombs, and made northwest for Mount Horlais, the giant moblin lumbering behind her.

-

Seles beheld the walls of San d'Oria from a distance at the top of a large plateau. The city seemed a grand and splendorous place. Guards in heavy armor defended the gate, the midmorning sun glinting off their protective plates. Bright red banners hung on either side, displaying a seal two black lions, two crossed spears, and a golden crown on a field of red. For a moment, she simply stared at it in wonder, then became worried at what its citizens might think of a woman in such filthy clothes and mud-caked hair.

At that moment, a shrill cry sounded behind her. Looking back over her shoulder, and then turning around, Seles saw what could only be a Tarutaru running as fast as her little legs would take her. Behind her trailed three large figures, which by Aleya's description must be Orcs. Almost reflexively, she put her hand on the hilt of her sword. Then she did something she'd have never thought possible. Drawing out some inner force, she reached out with it toward the lead orc, ripping it's attention away from the Tarutaru. Immediately, it changed course, and charged at her as if it had been chasing her all along. The other two, under the command of the lead orc, followed it.

As the orcs rushed at her, Seles felt a calm descending upon her, starting from her sword arm, and spreading through her. Tensed muscled became more relaxed and easier to command quickly, but her mind raced. The lead orc would put its foot...there, and...! The lead orc tried to slash its sword in a wide arc, but Seles saw the shift of its weight, and ducked before it even started, making a stab with her sword. The lead orc made a death cry as she put a foot to it and kicked as she wrenched the blade free, spinning to avoid the punch of the second orc and slashing it in the stomach. She stopped, seeing the second orc keel over clutching its chest, leaving one to go. This one had some sort of painted sack over its head and had its hands together changing something arcane in its low, growling language. Suddenly it finished chanting, and made a stabbing motion with its chubby finger at Seles. Instinctively, she braced herself, putting her right foot back against the ground, crouching, and holding her left arm up. Herein laid the mistake; she had no shield. The ground rumbled beneath her, and several stones rose up out of the ground and began hurtling at her, bombarding and bruising her. She gasped at the sudden pain, then charged forward out of anger, stabbing straight into that sacked head. The orc made a gurgling sound, and fell to the ground. As it did, she felt a soft, cool...something...wash over her, and settle into the places the stones had hit her, soothing them until they no longer hurt.

Seles, exhiliarated, wiped her sword on the spellcaster's leather clothes. She sheathed it, thrilled and somewhat scared at her victory over the orcs. Where did she get this much strength? By logic, the orcs were much bigger than her and much stronger, yet she had defeated each of them with a single blow. Was it the sword, or was it some inner strength, like that which she used to distract them in the first place?

Suddenly, she heard clapping behind her. Turning, she saw that the tarutaru woman was clapping. "Bravo," she said in a high, almost squeaking voice, "Oh, bravo! What a show!" Getting a closer look at the Tarutaru, Seles saw that it was short, no taller than two feet. Atop a small body sat a rather large head. This tarutaru had her blond hair up in a bun, and her bangs were tipped in red dye. She was wearing a simple blue robe.

"Did you heal me?" Seles asked.

"Yes, I did!" the Tarutaru answered, beaming.  
"Thanks, but why were they chasing you?" Seles asked immediately.

"I don'taru know!" the Tarutaru said. "I was out for a pleasure stroll when suddenly these three jumped me! I was so caught off guard that I bolted in fear." The tarutaru looked angry. "Now, if I hadn't been surprised, I could've taken out those nasty Orcs almost as easily as you!"

Seles' doubt at the Tarutaru's bold statement turned quickly to worry. How _did_ she deal with those orcs so easily? "A pleasure stroll?" she asked. "And what would a Tarutaru be doing out on a pleasure stroll in Ronfaure?"

"Er," the Tarutaru paused. "Hey! I haven't introduced myself yet, how rude of me! I'm Shiroro."

"Seles." Seles knelt and extended hand. "Er, nice to meet you." Shiroro took it, and she forced herself not to show her suspicion. "Hey," she said, remembering, "You're a doctor, aren't you?"

"My reputation precedes me!" Shiroro said proudly. "I'm Doctor Shiroro, visiting San d'Oria on buisness."

"You're the one Aleya said we would..."

Shiroro cut her off. "Aleya?!" she asked, "You know Aleya?"

"Yes," Seles answered, and tried to continue, "She said you could..."

"Do you know where she is right now? I'd like to speak with her again."

Seles cringed. "I think she's dead."

"Dead? Aleya, dead?!" Shiroro looked genuinely startled.

"Yes," Seles said, looking away from Shiroro. "We were attacked last night by a huge monster and...why are you laughing? This isn't funny!"

For Shiroro had indeed fallen over on her back and begun laughing, rolling and clutching her stomach. "Ahahaha, that's too funny! Aleya, dead! Wahahaha!" She stopped long enough to get up, but even then she resumed, giggling. "Girl, there's nothing between San d'Oria and Jeuno as could kill Aleya! Why, she probably killed it herself!"

It was Seles' turn to be startled. Aleya never looked that strong. How could she have taken something four times her size? _Then again, _she thought, _Those orcs were each almost twice as tall as me..._

"I wonder how she's doing?" Shiroro mused. "She and I go way back. There were six of us. Well, seven, but..." Shiroro sook her head sadly. "There was Furutu-Lupu, Ravhyn, James, Resin-Rosun, Aleya, and me. Now, I only have my hunny Resin-Rosun."

"And the seventh?" Seles asked.

"Relmm. I wouldn'taru mention that name to Aleya if I were you."

"Why not?"

"It took me about a day to get her to stop crying last time I tried to talk to her about Relmm. You see, she died," Shiroro said, and left it at that. Strange. To Seles, Aleya had never seemed like one to ever cry.

-

5

Garlic

"There it is," Aleya said. "Mount Horlais. And over there is Fort Ghelsba."

"Squishees!" Gruk growled in delight, then turned to Aleya. "Gruk...want thank lady, shows me place of killings!"

Aleya bowed. Any kind of 'You're welcome!' would be lost on Gruk, so she simply said, "Now go kill some Orcs for me!"

With a fierce, joyful warcry, Gruk ran off up the mountain.

-

Seles had been chatting with Shiroro for a while now, when she suddenly remembered what she wanted to see her for in the first place. "Doctor, I wanted to see you because I have amnesia!" This she spurted out in the middle of one of Shiroro's dialogues.

Shiroro was fazed by this sudden outburst, the flow of her tiny Tarutaru speech interrupted, but took it gracefully."Oh, well if that's why you wanted to see me, you should've told me sooner! I have potions for that!" Shiroro said. Seles was filled with hope. When she figured out just who she was, she could finish her quest to kill the monster. Even if it hadn't killed Aleya, if she had escaped it somehow, Seles was still resolved to avenge that poor guard.

"Now," Shiroro said, clapping her hands together and bringing Seles back to reality, "Are you paying in cash or in monthly payments via Auction House Delivery?"

"What? Paying?!" Seles asked incredulously. "But...she...you..." she quailed, "I have no money!"

"What? No money? Oh, no, this won'taru do at all! I can't pay my expenses if I don't charge for my services! Sorry hun, but I can't!" Shiroro paused, then her face lit up. "I know! You did a pretty number on those Orcs. I can'taru beat them when they gang up, and I have to get some garlic for my medicines from the spellcasting ones--" _Aha,_ Seles thought, _I _knew_ she wasn't just out on a stroll!_ "--but they're always guarded by others! I was on my way to Ghelsba Outpost to try and collect some, but I found a Mesmerizer, and these jumped me as I was fighting it."

"Let me guess," Seles said, "You want me to get some garlic, then you'll treat me."

"Exactly!"

"Er, where is Fort Ghelsba?" Seles blushed.

"It's to the northwest, at the foot of Mount Horlais, the tallest mountain near San d'Oria."

Without a word, Seles started walking towards it. Shiroro stood there for a few seconds before running after her, yelling, "Hey! Wait for me!"

-

It was midday when they reached the foot of Mount Horlais. By now, the clouds had completely departed from the sky, and everywhere above, the light filtered down in a patchwork of bright blue and green from the roof of the forest. It was quite warm. Seles took the lead, and Shiroro trailed not far behind. Suddenly, the Tarutaru stopped, and looked down to examine something. "Seles," she said, "Something passed by here. It was very big. These are its tracks."

Seles looked down. It was true, there were tracks underfoot. And they were quite large. Maybe it was the monster! Seles quickened her pace.

"W-wait a minute!" Shiroro stammered, trying to keep up. "You aren'taru going in there, are you? That thing may still be there!"

"I'll take it down, like I took those orcs down!" Seles said fiercely, and marched through the cave into Ghelsba territory.

...And immediately ran into a wall. "Ah, it's dark in here."

"Hold on a second." Shiroro said, and began chanting. Almost immediately, she was cut off. Something had kicked her in the gut. Almost a second later, something collided into Seles, knocking her to the ground. "Augh!" the third person said. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry..."

Shiroro, recognizing the voice at once, was up first, and immediately cast Flash. Immediately, light spilled out onto the walls of the cave from the Taru's outstretched hand.

Seles' heart jumped, though her mind refused to register the voice. She got up, and there, before her, stood Aleya.

"Seles," Aleya said, "what're you doing here? I thought I told you to go to San d'Oria."

Seles ran forward, and clamped her arms around Aleya, almost knocking them both off balance. "Aleya! I thought you were dead!"

"Dead?" Aleya laughed, prying Seles off. "Stupid, I told you I'd meet you in San d'Oria. You think I'd go back on my word?"

"Oh," Seles said, letting Aleya push her away and feeling a bit stupid indeed.

"See, I told you she wasn'taru dead!" Shiroro said.

"Shiroro!" Aleya exclaimed, and rushed to kneel down and hug the Taru. "It's been so long, how are you?"

"Oh, I'm fine, but what about you, you rascal?"

"I'm okay too, I was just bringing Seles here up to see you."

"So I heard. But we've come this far, I can't leave without my garlic!"

"Garlic?"

"It's for my patient, Monarlais Halver. It's why I'm here in San d'oria. He has a condition that's been taking me forever to cure, and shaman's garlic is part of the medicine."

"So, you're having Seles help you get some instead of buying it yourself?" Aleya looked skeptically at Shiroro. "'Roro, you're not in debt again, are you?"

Shiroro blushed, embarrassed. "I am. I had to take out a loan for my new lab equipment, but I'm so glad I did!"

"...Fine, but you don't even know if she can handle--"

"I can handle them!" Seles said, putting her hand on the hilt of the new sword.

"Seles, where did you get that?" Aleya asked.

"I tripped over the guard. He was..." Seles couldn't bring herself to repeat the horror she had seen.

"It's okay," Aleya said, and patted Seles' shoulder comfortingly. "You don't have to talk about it. Let's go get some garlic for Shiroro."

"Okay." Seles followed Aleya out into an open pass.

-

The pass led them to a small forested area. "Funny, there aren'taru any orcs around," Shiroro observed.

"Looks like Gruk did his work," Aleya said satisfactorily.

"Gruk?" Seles asked, but her question was answered not a second later. Ahead of them, there was a loud, rumbling groan.

"I don't like the sound of that," Seles said. She knew only one thing that could make that sound. She put a hand on her sword.

"It's my new friend! Let's go meet him!" Aleya said, and ran in the direction of the groan. Seles followed.

"Wait!" Shiroro called, but they were already too far ahead. "Well, damn..." she swore, and made after them.

They were there all of a sudden. Gruk lay propped up against a hut. It was groaning and clutching its stomach, and blood dribbled down its chin. "Urrrrgggh, Gruk eat too much Orc...Gruk very full!"

"Easy there, easy! You'll give yourself indigestion!" Aleya warned. "Don't talk too much. Sleep it off, and you'll be fine in the morning. Hey, wait a sec. Did they have any garlic with them? Little white round stuff?"

"Little white round?" Gruk asked, and groaned again. "Taste nasty. Gruk leave much over there." It pointed to a small pile of garlic bulbs. Shiroro, who had just arrived, squeaked in delight and ran for the garlic, picking up as much as she could carry, stuffing it her bag, and repeating.

"Thank you alot, Gruk!" Aleya said.

The whole time, Seles hadn't taken her hand off the hilt of her sword. "Seles," Aleya said, "You can relax. It's not going to try to hurt us anymore."

"It killed the guard!" Seles said, and started unsheathing it. "I'll kill it!"

"No!" Aleya said, stepping forward and forcing Seles' sword back into its sheath. Seles struggled, but Aleya was quite strong herself. "Revenge is not the answer! If you want to kill it because it attacked us and killed our guard, then you're lowering yourself to its level. Aren't you better than that?"

This was something Seles had never thought of before. It made sense. "I guess...you're right." she said, and stopped struggling.

"Good. Now, Shiroro, are you ready to go?"

"You bet, luv! I've gotaru enough garlic for another year!"

"Then let's go back to San d'Oria and treat ourselves to a nice big dinner!" Aleya exclaimed.

"Right!" Seles said.

Together, the three of them set off towards the keep.

-

"By the way Shiroro, what's wrong with Halver?" Aleya asked as they came in sight of the city walls.

"Oh, that. Can you keep a secret?"

"You know that better than anyone!"

"Well, according to himself, he's _incompetent _in bed"

"You're kidding me!" Aleya giggled. "So, the garlic is for..."

"Exactly."

Seles, just realizing what they were talking about, blushed furiously and giggled, wondering just where Aleya had travelled to pick up such a crude expression. The laughter caught, and soon all three were giggling madly all the way up to the gate.

-

6

Ado

The building lay off to the side of one of the main throughfares of San d'Oria's southern section. It was simple, unadorned, save for a single sign. "The Lion Springs Tavern," Seles read. "This is where we're staying?"

"No, silly, we'll be staying the night in my Mog House," Aleya answered.

"Mog House?"

"I'll explain later, when we've had something to eat."

For mid-afternoon, the bar was relatively packed. The tables were full, and the only place they could sit was at the bar. They did so, the three of them sitting on the three stools next to the wall.

"So," Shiroro said, "You can't remember anything?"

"Nothing before arriving in...er...Bastok." Seles said.

"You couldn'taru remember your family, or life?" Seles nodded. "But knew how to talk, how to add, right?" Seles nodded again. "What about your past experiences? I mean, you knew about your body, what things felt like, right?"

"Er...no."

"Explain."

"Well...I did kind of know what everything was supposed to feel like, but everything I felt, smelled, saw, or tasted...it felt like I was sensing it for the first time. Everything's still kind of new to me. I knew that pepper was spicy, but I didn't know what spicy was until I tasted it. I knew that the sky was blue, but I didn't know what blue was until I saw it."

Shiroro stopped eating, lost in thought. "This worries me. I haven't heard of anyone not..." was as far as she got before the person next to Seles looked over at her.

"By the Goddess! Can it truly be Seles, the beautiful young woman from Bastok?" It was the prettyboy from the port, Len! "Would you grace me with a few moments of your time? I thought, when we parted, that we surely would not meet again! It must be fate that draws us both together here!"

Shiroro looked up with Aleya with an unreadable expression. Aleya returned the glance, and nodded. "I know there's only one Hume so eloquent," Aleya said, raising her voice, "Or so lecherous! Lendolus, what are you up to?"

"Oh," Lendolus said, his face falling. "It's Aleya. I suppose you're still taken?" Lendolus said, making it obvious that he had never believed she was. Seles was still staring at him. She didn't know why, but she was very attracted to his flawless complexion.

Aleya looked away. "I'm not any more. And _no,_ that doesn't mean you'll get anything from me!"

"But, your lady friend here is free, right?" Without waiting for an answer, Lendolus continued, "Seles, come and be alone with me, and I'll show you wonders you've never dreamed of! Together, beauteous one, we can compose a song of love unrivalled by any bard of our time!" Seles' mind was so lost to her fascination with Lendolus' compelling face that she was ready to eagerly comply, when...

"No, she is _not_ free, so back off!" Aleya almost yelled, blushing deeper, then caught herself. Why was she being so protective?

"Ugh, what a bore." Lendolus said, and made to leave. "My lovesong, should you ever change your mind, you're always welcome by my side. I'm here most nights; I work as a minstrel. Should you ever return here, you'll find me singing of your beauty." As he left, Seles felt a sort of spell lift from her. Her mind became miraculously free of that dazzling face From the back, he looked like just an ordinary man.

"Well," Shiroro said, "Now that that's over with, I have some medicine I want you to try. You...should...regain your memory after you drink it. We'll have to go get it though, it's in my office."

"Let's go, then!" Seles said enthusiastically.

-

"Aleya," Seles asked as they turned the corner to go deeper into the western side of Southern San d'Oria. It was twilight as the three made their way down this new street, Shiroro leading, Seles following close behind, and Aleya bringing up the rear. "when I looked at his face, I kelt kinda wierd..."

"Oh," Aleya said, rolling her eyes, "That's his charisma."

"His...?"

"He's a Bard. Bards have exceptionally high charisma. It's sort of this trait that makes people...socially attractive. Everyone has it, it's just that some have more than others. It's what makes people witty, and good-looking." They turned down another street, and Aleya continued. "Lendolus has such high charisma that the untrained mind will be easily fascinated with him to the point that they will do almost anything for him." Aleya paused, then added, "You were staring at him the whole time. I guess it'd be easy for an amnesiac to..." Aleya stopped herself. "I'm sorry, I shoudln't have..."

"It's all right," Seles said, blushing, "If not for you, I probably would've fallen for him just like that."

_She didn't...did she?_ Aleya thought, _No, she couldn't have meant it like that. Augh, why am I having these thoughts?_ She thought, berating herself.

"We're here!" Shiroro announced. "Come on in!" She opened the door, and motioned them in. "Resin-Rosun!" she called, "Resin hun, come out here, we have guests!"

"Guestys!" came a voice from another room. A tarutaru waltzed in. His hair was a shaggy grey mess around a head too big for his tiny body, but then again, all Tarutaru heads were. This one, though, was a character. He was wearing full pint-sized battle armor, but he was wielding a spoon and a spatula. "Well, who wants dinner? Oh, hey!" he said, "It's Aleya! I haven't seen you in a such a long timey!"

Aleya had cracked up at the thought of Resin cooking in his battle armor, and was still laughing up stitches as she knelt to hug the Tarutaru. "Resin-Rosun, you scoundrel! Where did you come from?"

Meanwhile, Seles was a bit mystified at this new person's battle armor, chef hat, and cooking utensils. "Aleya," she asked, "Why would he cook in his armor?"

"Let me explain, let me explain!" Resin-Rosun said. "Me and Shiroro, well, we tied the knot!" He went over to Shiroro and gave her a brief full-mouthed kiss.

"Ohmy_gawsh_, congratulations!" Aleya said, beaming, and hugged the two tarutaru. "When was this?"

"Well, it was shortaru after our group broke up. You know, the old gang."

"I remember." Aleya said simply.

"And your outfit...if I'm not being too rude?" Seles asked as Shiroro slipped away.

"Well you see...I've given up my life of adventuring and monster slaying. Now, the only battles I fightey are in Shiroro's kitchen," Resin-Rosun said.

"He does such a wonderful job of it too!" Shiroro chimed in from the next room amid sounds of shuffling.

"So, do you want anything to eat? As always, I have more than enough food..."

"I'm sorry Resin," Aleya said, "We just ate, we're just here to get some medicine for my friend Seles here."

"Pleased to meet ya!" Resin-Rosun said, extending his tiny hand. Seles knelt, and shook it.

"Ah, here it is!" Shiroro called. She emerged from another room carrying a bottle of clear liquid. "This is a potion made from distilled crystals. Drink it."

As Seles drank (It was a bit spicy, and burned her throat on the way down.) Aleya asked, "Resin, how come you weren't helping Shiroro fetch Onions?"

"Well, y'see, I don't exactly...have a weapon anymore. It's part of the reason I gave up. Remember my sword, the big shiney one? I...lost it, and can't find it!"

Seles coughed and spluttered. "C'mon girl, it's not that bad," Shiroro said, "Drink it all down now..."

"We really should get going, it's almost dark..." Aleya said.

"Oh, then by all means, don't let me keep you!" Shiroro said, taking the bottle from Seles, who had all but finished it. "Should you ever need my services again dearies, I'm going to head back to Windurst after I give Halver a lifetime supply of my supplement, so look for me there!"

"Th-thank you very much," Seles said, and coughed again.

"Don't mention it, girl!"

"You two live happily ever after now, or else!" Aleya laughed.

"No worries there!" Resin said, edging closer to his wife.

"They're gone..." Shiroro said as Aleya closed the door behind them.

"Soo..." Resin said, looking suggestively at Shiroro, secretively reaching behind her, but she knew him too well and caught his hand, pulling him to her.

"Oh, come here, you!" she said, tackling him to the ground, half kissing him, and half shrieking with laughter as he struggled.

"Roro, you pervert!" Resin managed, and laughed along with her. After a few seconds, he stopped struggling.

7

Echoes

Seles and Aleya made their way down the lamplit street. It was now very dark out, and the only light save for the lamps was that of the moon. As they passed, they saw that shops were closing up, and doors were being shut. Atop the walls, the night guard was being changed.

They passed by a fountain near the Lion Springs tavern, and Aleya stopped and simply stared at it. Seles walked a few steps before she realized her companion had stopped. "Aleya...?" she called, but Aleya wasn't listening...

-

_The names haunted her, hunted her through her childhood and up through her teens. They were derrogatory, and outright insulting. They hurt her more because they were true._

_"Aboriginal wench!" _

_"We don't want you here!"  
_

_"You're a menace! Why, the very armor you wear, you pilfered off Rosel!"_

_"That's not true!" Aleya said, "I bought it! Fair and square!"_

_"How is it, then," the first Elvaan said, "that Raimbert's apples keep disappearing?"_

_Why was it that people were so biased against someone different than them?_

_"Theif!"_

_"Scoundrel!"_

_"Get out! Get out!"_

_Tears streaming from her eyes, Aleya turned and ran. And she ran...out of the square, out of the town...until there were no longer trees around her, but walls. She made to double back, but she had made a wrong turn, and by the time she knew it, she was hopelessly lost._

_After about six hours, she sat down and began crying anew._

"Aleya, what's wrong?" Seles asked incredulously. Suddenly she noticed that there were tears in her eyes. She shook them away.

"No...nothing's wrong." she said, trying to look happy again.

"You were crying." Seles said.

"It's nothing!" Aleya said, "Come on, my Mog House is just around the corner!" With that, she walked off to the northeast.

-

From a rooftop above the square, two figures watched the women leave.

"Hey, Jax, you sure that's her?" the first one said.

"Which one?" Jax asked.

"Hmm...I dunno." the first man said. "Boss said to get _the_ girl in her early twenties, and judging by their looks, they both qualify."

"Ooh, can we get both of them then, Tok?"

"No, that's stupid. It'd be too hard, and Boss would get mad at us for not following orders."

"Oh." Tok said disappointedly.

"Wait!" Jax said enthusiastically, "We could get them both, and whichever one the boss doesn't want, we keep!" Jax laughed. "I'm a genius!"

"Yup! Sure are!" Tok said.

"So, wait 'till they fall asleep, and..."

Jax and Tok talked on, unaware of the man watching them from an even higher rooftop. "So, they've got Graft, or rather his cronies, after them..." the lone figure said to himself, "I wonder what he wants..."

Having caught just enough of the conversation, the lone figure ran across the line of rooftops along toward the Residential area.

-

"Well, here it is! Home sweet home," Aleya said, setting down her pack on the table and motioning for Seles to do the same. "It's not much, but I've had it for three years, so I've worn it in."

It did seem a bit homely. A fire crackled merrily at the hearth, a result of the hardworking house Moogles. There was a bed and a sofa, a few flowerpots, and a simple rug.

"I'll take the couch. Guests always get the bed." Aleya said. "Oh, but you should take a bath before going to bed." She pointed to the bathtub. "I don't like my sheets dirty." She blushed. "I'll...go outside...and wait for you."

Seles looked at herself. By the goddess, she was filthy! She made to take off her clothes when Aleya returned carrying a couple of buckets. "Here, I forgot to get you some wate--" She stopped in midsentence. Seles was half naked, wearing only her brassier and pants. Aleya blushed furiously. "I'm...sorry...I'll go now."

_Aleya, you idiot!_ she berated herself as she tramped down the lamplit street, _You're not like that anymore! You promised, you swore there'd never be another, not after Relmm! And besides, she hasn't got anything you can't look at in the mirror, so why'd you blush?!_ Cursing herself, she realized she had returned to the fountain. Picking up the nearest loose stone, she lobbed it at the topmost statue and missed.

-

Seles luxuriated in the feel of the silken nightgown Aleya had laid out for her as she slipped into bed feeling the cleanest she had since she arrived in Vana'diel. Her heartburn hadn't gone away yet, but it hadn't gotten any worse, so she dismissed it as meaningless. It was at this moment that Aleya chose to return.

"Hi!" she said cheerily, "Had a good bath, I presume?"

"Yes, thank you." Seles said, "I needed that."

"Well..." Aleya paused awkwardly. Should she apologize for walking in on Seles, or apologize for blushing, or...No, she should stop wondering about bullcrap like that and get some sleep! "I'm going to bed. G'night!"

"Okay," Seles said, yawning, and opening her diary, began to write.

_Earthsday, 3/5/892_

_I arrived in San d'Oria today, but the journey here was more than I could've imagined. We were attacked by a huge monster, and I thought Aleya died! I found a sword on our dead guard and swore to avenge them, but I later found out Aleya was alive! She taught me what I think is the most important thing I've learned; that vengeance reaps no rewards. What's more, I don't think I fully realized how much I missed Aleya until I saw her again in that cave, and I'll never forget the way my heart jumped when I saw her, alive. She's my only true friend in this world, and there's just about nothing I wouldn't do for her._

Seles shut the book and drifted off into sleep. It was in that sleep, however, that her heartburn worsened, causing her to toss and turn with troubled dreams...

-

"Seles, wake up!" Something shook her. "Seles! You can't fall asleep driving this thing!"

She was at the reins of the chocobo-drawn carriage. Aleya sat beside her. "Silly, you can't fall asleep while I'm teaching you..."

But it wasn't Aleya talking...no, it was a man next to her, a bit older, with a scruffy chin and shining blond hair matching her own covering just the tops of his ears. "That's it," he said, "You're getting the hang of it!"

"But, I'm nervous...it's about to rain."

"Do you want me to take over?" His voice was calm and comforting.

"No, I'll go for just a bit longer."

All of a sudden, it was sleeting. The chocobos began losing their footing, and just as they tripped over themselves, they disappeared, along with the yoke. The carriage was being lifted...

_Just like the night before..._

...No, it was being shaken from side to side, but she was held in place. She was no longer on a wooden bench, but a plush, mauve leather seat, restrained by a saftey belt, and holding a steering wheel in a deathgrip while mashing her foot into the brakes. The car swerved this way and that in the harsh fog and sleet, until out of the passenger side window, a pickup appeared, charging straight for them, and it would hit the man first...the man...her...brother...

"_SUNDER!" _ she screamed, jerking awake...

-

...and seeing a surprised, grizzled face in front of her, screamed again.

"Mmfmm, what is--" she heard Aleya's (half-asleep) voice being choked off by something.

"Damn, that one's awake!" a voice came.

"Then just get that one!" the man in front of her said.

"But, this might be the wrong one! Boss'll be mad..."

Seles was groping for her sword...she had put it beside her bed when she went to sleep...

"Then I'll knock her out myself!" the man nearest her said, and brandished a small hammer. Suddenly he froze in midswing. An arrowhead and an inch of shaft stuck through the left side of his chest.

"I don't think so," said a familiar voice.

"Damn!" the second man said, and hoisting a bound Aleya over his shoulder, reached into his tunic and through somehting on the ground. There was a snap and a bright flash, and both disappeared.

Seles sat back in bed with her sword in hand, stunned. Offhandedly, she wondered at her dream. What was that chocobo-less carriage she'd been driving? Sunder...that was the name of her brother. She could remember nothing further than the fact that it was her fault he had died. Nothing...save that she had had a brother.

"Damn!" the new man echoed, putting his second strung arrow back in the quiver at his belt. "He got away!" At that second, Seles recognized him.

"Lendolus?!" Seles asked, remembering not to look directly at him.

"I'm sorry we couldn't meet under more cheerful circumstances, lovesong," Lendolus said, lifting her out of bed and handing her her clothes, "but if you want to save your friend, we'd better hurry!"

End chapter 2

To be continued.

Like what you read? E-mail me at jcaldora -(AT)- hotmail -(DOT)- com.


	3. A Glimpse of a Greater Evil

Chapter 3

The Greater Evil

8

Journey

Streaks of violet and red flew across the early morning sky as it lightened in anticipation of the sun. Under this colorful sky, two figures ran through the streets of San d'oria. One was Lendolus, who effortlessly dodged other people, and the occasional street stall. The one trailing behind him was Seles, struggling to keep up. For some reason, she was able to look at Lendolus' face without falling under a trance.

"You were the one watching me as I fought the Orcs!" Seles said suddenly, realizing.

"You're pretty good with that thing," Lendolus appraised.

"Damn," Lendolus swore, "By now he's already back at his master's hideout." They had arrived at the King Ranperre Gate, with no sign of Aleya or her kidnapper.

"His master?" Seles asked.

"I suppose it'd be alright to tell you." Lendolus took a deep breath. "I'm not actually a bard. At least, not full-time. It pains me to admit it, but my musical ability is...lacking. I'm a Ranger in the employ of a Windurstian merchant. I've been ordered to investigate the activities of a high-ranking businessman, Graft. I could never get myself far enough into his inner workings to find out exactly what he did, but I got far enough to see him send two cronies out. I decided that, to find out more about him and his motives, I would track the two and find out what they were up to."

"And they led you here..." Seles reasoned.

"And captured Aleya. What they want with either of you is beyond me. My boss likes to keep his own motives secret."

"So they took her back to this Graft person's lair? Where is that?"

"Vollbow," Lendolus said with grim certainty. "It's a peninsula to the west of Zulkheim, past Valkurm," he added at Seles' blank look.

"Then we haven't any time to lose!" Seles said, marching toward the gate, "Let's go save her!"

"Whoa, whoa, hold on there, beautiful!" Lendolus called after her, "There's a faster way than walking!"

"What is that?"

"Chocobos!" Lendolus paused. "First, we'll stop and get you some proper armor."

-

"Ah! Lendolus!" An excited Rosel called. "Where have you been, you old rascal?"

"Here and there." Lendolus answered, clasping his old friend's hand.

"Well, who's that pretty--"

"Sorry old friend, I haven't the time. I need to buy some armor for her." Lendolus said.

"Right, then. Remember, I still owe you for smoothing over that cape fiasco," the grizzled Elvaan laughed. "So what'll it be? I got a shipment of bronze scale equipment in this past firesday."

"Not scale mail, it's too heavy. For her style of fighting, I'd say Lizardhide."

"Lizardhide? That's a bit expensive, you know..."

"I'll make a down payment, and we're even."

"Four."

"Two."

"Three and a half."

"Three. And you better throw in a shield."

"Done," the grizzled old man said, and Lendolus put down a small gilpurse, which Rosel collected.

-

Seles struggled to keep atop her mount. The chocobo liked to fidget and shift its weight around. What was more, her new armor was a bit stiff and she was not as maneuverable in it as she had been in her vest. The lizardhide was not scaly like she expected it. Instead, it was leathery and tough. Thanks to Rosel's professional measurements, it fit around her like a glove. However, it was kind of hard move around in it, and the shield now strapped to her back weighed her down.

"How--do--you--get this thing--to stop moving?" she said, struggling with the reins. They had taken their rented mounts out to Ronfaure so Seles could get used to riding.

"It's hungry. Feed it." Lendolus said, handing her what looked like some lettuce. "This is a clump of Gyshal Greens, Chocobo's favorite food." The chocobo's head was looking back, twisting its long neck and eyeing the Greens. "See, it's already smelled them. Don't be scared, let it take them."

Seles sis as she was told, and bend forward to allow the Chocobo to take the greens in its mouth, which it did, and started happily chewing on them. Seles noticed that it had become quite still.

"I think you've gained it's trust. Now, see if you can get it to walk. Nudge it with your heels, both at once." Seles did so, and the Chocobo did nothing. It simply sat quite still.

"Try a little harder." Lendolus said, and Seles pushed her feet into both haunches of the chocobo, but to no effect. The Chocobo sat stubbornly still. She tried once more, with the same result. Frustrated, she kicked her feet together hard. This produced not quite the result she had intended; the chocobo, giving a great "Kweeeeeh!" lurched forward into a flat-out gallop. Seles, panicking and forgetting the reins altogether, latched her arms around the chocobo's thick lower neck. Chocobo and rider hurtled down through Ronfaure.

"Well, damn," Lendolus said, mounting his Chcocbo, and speeding off to catch up.

-

"Exactly why am I here, Graft?" Lexus asked as both walked down a rusty metal corridor. "You had better have a good reason."

"I wish to show you something." Graft responded without looking back. He had to look confident.

"You sure don't keep your house tidy," Lexus commented, looking around at the decor. The hallway they walked through was composed of very rusted metal. It resounded with heavy a metallic 'klung' whenever they put their feet down.

"Of course. There's really no need. This is, after all, an abandoned mine." Graft said, resisting the urge to sneer.

"What is it that you want to show me, then?" Lexus asked.

"You know," Graft said, stalling for time as he made his way down the corridor, "it's amazing, how much one can truly blunder by misinterpreting orders."

"What do you mean?" Lexus asked, his tone dangerously low.

"I found the girl." Graft said simply, stopping at a door. The door, like everything else, was rusted, and made a horrible screeching noise as it opened. "The girl you tried to have killed. The girl our master...or should I say, _my_ master ordered you to capture, and killing her only at all costs. Go ahead," Graft said, fingering the knife in his pocket, "Why don't you take a look."

"Excellent," Lexus said, ignoring the belligerence of his subordinate. He looked into the cell. The girl was there, and seemingly in tact, though her eyes were closed. She looked like she was sleeping, or unconscious. "But...why did you not bring her to me?"

"Because," Graft said, slipping the knife out of his pocket, "I wanted to show you here, just before you _died!_" With this, he plunged the knife into Lexus' back.

Lexus felt not pain, but shock at betrayal. The muscles of his body wouldn't respond, and he stood there, rigid, detached.

"You always were a pain, Lexus. Cutting corners, slacking off, and handing off the dirty work to me, the real brains of his operation! You're an incompetent fool who got to his position by sheer fluke!" With this, Graft put his foot to Lexus' back, and shoved him off the knife into the cell.

It was when he hit the rusty cell floor that the pain registered. It lanced through his body, ravaging his mind. "G...Graft..." Lexus managed, "You...won't...get away...with this...Master will..."

"Oh, but I already have gotten away with it." Graft laughed softly. He slammed the door shut and began walking back toward the control center, still laughing.

Suddenly, as he walked, there was a large voice speaking directly to his mind. It had started shortly after his visit to his Master's palace under Mount Yuhtunga; he had caught a glimpse of a crystal blacker than any he had ever seen, and it had posessed him. Well, not posessed, rather it gave him orders, and babbled incoherent promises of sweet rewards.

_YOU HAVE DONE WELL,_ the voice said, _CONTINUE MY WILL._ At this, Graft's giggle turned into a greedy, shrieking laughter.

-

At about the same time, Graft's last words echoed through the dreams of another...

_"You won't get away with this!" Thus shouted a tall Elvaan in shining armor._

_"You broughtaru this on yourself, Lineaux!" the Tarutaru leader chastised._

_Lineaux, once an upstanding member of a prominent league of Windurstians, stood ostracized. He felt his rage build. "You can't do this to me! I'll...I'll kill you if you do!" And he _was_ ready to. "If you do this, Shiroro, I swear, I'll see you dead!"_

_"Please!" a Red Mage tried to intervene, "Can't we all just get along?"_

_"I'm sorry, Aleya," Shiroro said, "But things have gone too far!"_

_"Best back off, Lineaux," a Samurai said, "'fore I cut you down!"_

_Lineaux looked around in despair and hatred at the angry faces surrounding him. He was one of the greatest Paladins in Vana'diel. He was outnumbered, but he didn't care. Hate building in him, he charged at Shiroro, only to be deflected by a wall of stone which had risen up and taken the form of Titan. Attempting to dart around the massive avatar, he made again for Shiroro. The Avatar's reaction was swooft. It grabbed Lineaux around the torso, and hurled him to the ground. There were several audible cracks and snaps._

_"There's nothing leftaru here for us. Let's go." Shiroro said. One by one, the members followed her, leaving Lineaux cursing his existence laying on the jagged rocks at the foot of Mount Yuhtunga. There, he had heard the call._

_Come to me. Come to me. I've grown tired of this body. Come to me and take your revenge._

_Lineaux jerked awake. He sad in his disused bed and simply stared while thinking. "And then, you came to me...you offered me new life...a chance to have my revenge on those who scorned me..."_

He wasn't talking to anyone in the room, but to the presence in his head. Since he had accepted Zen'Daurlum's control over him, he _had_ felt positive changes to his body. He felt stronger, and more mentally awake. He could _feel_ his surroundings whatever he was. The spirit had, at times, taken complete control of him, but those times were too few and far in between that it made little difference. He would be more powerful, he _would_ have his revenge. All he needed was to bring and give souls to Zen'Daurlum. And he had been doing so with the help of two higher-ups in the Bastoken government that he had enthralled.

Now, he had a problem. Ever since Graft had visited to deliver his latest shipment of souls, Lineaux had found that the presence in his mind brought upon by the effects of the black crystal, Zen'Daurlum, had somewhat diminished. He walked over to the crystal and stared into it's infinite depth. It's black hue seemed to swallow light, to suck it up from around room. "Tell me what to do..." he pleaded to the presence. There was no answer.

-

At last, in the darkening twilight, Seles saw the lights of Selbina on the horizon. It had been difficult, but she had finally gotten used to riding a Chocobo, and her Chocobo had finally gotten used to her. Lendolus trailed just behind her.

"We'll spend the night here!" Lendolus called.

"Right!" Seles called back.

On they galloped, into Selbina.

9

Redux

Seles and Lendolus sat down at the bar in the Sailor's Stay. The swarthy bartender was there in front of them almost immediately.

"What'll it be?" he asked.

"I'll have the Mithkabob dish, please." Seles said. She still had a little pocket gil, the last of which she put on the bar.

"I'll have the, uh, house special." Lendolus said, putting down a small gil purse.

The bartender looked around, and snatched the purse, pocketing it. Then he leaned close to Lendolus.

"They say there's been wrongdoing afoot," the bartender said in hushed tones. "No one wants teh talk about it, but everyone knows it; adventurers have been going out inteh the Whitebone region...and ne'er returning! There's all kindsa rumors, but everyone agrees there's no coincidences out there on the Dunes."

"As I thought," Lendolus said, "He's picking up his pace. Whatever he's using them for, I doubt it's anything good. Keep on the lookout for information; you've been doing great."

"Aye, I'll about do it." the bartender said, and shuffled over to his new patron. A waitress brought Seles' food, and she ate hungrily; she hadn't eaten all day. Lendolus shifted his attention to the rough looking Mithra in chainmail next to him.

"Miss, how goes this lovely evening?" he asked her.

The Mithra looked at him wiltingly, and he caught a good look at the scar running down her face, stopping above her eye and picking up right below to end just under her jawbone.

Lendolus, unfazed, continued: "At least you might grace us with your name?"

"Semirah," the Mithra said simply, and continued her meal. Lendolus opened his mouth to speak, but 'Semirah' shot him a glance that said plainly that he had better mind his own business...or else. Lendolus, crestfallen, began studying his clasped hands.

"Lendolus," Seles asked, "Why are you helping me? It's because you want to win Aleya over, isn't it?"

"Good guess, but no," Lendolus said, "Not anymore, anyway. I told you about my mission, but it's not even about that any longer. Now, it's on this hunch I have."

"A hunch?" Seles asked. Off-handedly, she wondered whether Lendolus had somehow turned the charm of his charisma off, or if she was successfully resisting it.

Lendolus looked at her, wondering how much he should trust her with. He sighed, and spoke. "All my life, I've been looking for something more. I'm already the truest shot with a bow this side of Jeuno, and I've heard almost all the music I care for. There must be something greater in this world. I've a hunch that if I stay with you and Aleya, I just might see it. It's this...sense I get when I'm around you."

"Are you trying to hit on me?" Seles asked defensively.

"I'll chose not to answer that, but what I said was true." Lendolus said.

"Hmm..." Seles said, thinking, "What can we expect in Graft's compound?"

"Let me ask you one thing," Lendolus said, "Are you willing to risk death for your friend?"

"I'd do anything for her." Seles said truthfully.

"We could be up against anything." Lendolus warned, "Remember, I didn't get deep enough in to see anything interesting."

"Whatever we meet, I'll take it." Seles said fiercely.

"Good to see you have some resolve," Lendolus said. "I'm checking in."

With that, he called the bartender over, put a ten-gil piece on the table, and the Bartender took it, grinning through his bushy beard. "You never change, do you, Len?"

"I'm afraid not. Friend barkeep, milady Seles, milady Semirah, good night." Lendolus bowed, and proceeded upstairs. Seles could hear an audible "Tch!" from the Mithra.

-

Seles sat in the bed in a room across from Lendolus', pondering the recent events. _"I'd do anything for her,"_ she had said, and meant it. But just what did 'anything' entail? A longing in her heart had been building up for the better part of the day. A sort of emptiness, as if she were missing something terribly important. She knew now what it must be. She wanted Aleya near her. Her feelings for Aleya had gone beyond the gratitude of a student, or even that of a friend. A small part of her asked whether feeling these feelings for another woman weren't a little strange, but she, knowing--_No,_ she told herself, _remembering!_--nothing of the natural order of things, had no answers. Sunder would have been able to help her understand.

Wait, where did that thought come from? Sunder...that was the name she had screamed, waking up. And she could put a face to the name. Slim face, and tousled blond hair matching hers. Her brother. He had always been there for her, helping her to understand herself...but how had she known that? Now he was dead. What was the meaning of the leather chocoboless carriage and the huge object that had appeared out of the window on the passenger side? All she knew was that it had killed him...

She strained her mind, trying to remember more, but she was getting sleepy, and her head fell back against the pillow...

-

_She wept into her pillow. Someone was there, rubbing their hand on her back, but no amount of comforting could bring him back. He was gone forever._

_"Seles, honey," a soft voice said, "you've been in here for days!"_

_"And I can stay here 'till I die, for all I care!" Seles said bitterly. "There's nothing left for me. I should just kill myself."_

_"Seles, you should do no such thing! You've got to live for me, or I don't know what I'll do!"_

_"You don't understand!" Seles almost screamed at the woman. Of course _she_ didn't. No one did. It had all been her _own_ fault. Sunder had died because she was too headstrong._

_"Seles, if there were anything I could do to make it not so, you know I'd do it, but you can't keep crying over this, it won't bring him back." Damn, she was right. Seles sat up and buried her face in the woman's shoulder._

_"It hurts, Mum..." she whimpered._

_"I know, dear, I know," her mother said, and held her tight. "Sunder is irreplaceable not only in your heart, but in mine as well. You were too young to have known your father, but I loved him more than anything. Now you're all I have left. Seles, please, don't go dying on me..."_

_"I promise, mum, I promise."_

_They sat there, crying into each other's shoulders for a while until her mother got up to prepare dinner._

-

Lendolus got up for an early morning drink, and decided to check on Seles. She was very beautiful, sleeping serenely. One feature was a bit off though, he noted. There were tears streaming from her eyes onto the pillow. Whatever dreams she was having, they weren't pleasant.

He found himself wondering. All his life he had chased after beautiful women, even after having become a professional ranger. He had thought he'd be able to win Seles over, but she didn't seem to be as fascinated with him as almost every other girl had been. Even more disturbing, he now found himself wondering whether he even wanted Seles. That Mithra girl in the bar, Semirah...he couldn't get her off his mind. Even when she had looked at him so disgustedly, she was beyond beautiful. This worried Lendolus.

-

Aleya woke to a splitting headache. She was alone in a room. The walls and floor were metal covered in rust. The air, though, reeked not only of rusting iron, but of blood. Had she not been traveling for years, the wave of queasiness that came over her when she looked at the dead body on the floor might have caused her to be sick. The only light in the room was dimly filtered in through the bars on the door. The air was quite damp, which would account for the rusting.

What was she doing here? Just last night she had lain down on her couch, and...had been woken up by a scream! Yes, Seles had screamed twice...and then someone had gagged her, and then bound her, and hit her with something in the head. She could have sworn she had seen Lendolus, but how could he be involved in something like that? He wasn't the type of man that would attack a woman, no matter how lecherous and boisterous he was.

The question, then, was, why was she taken prisoner? What had she done? Did this have any connection with the strange conversation she had overheard in King Ranperre's Tomb? She checked for her weapons...Damn, they were back in the Mog House! She walked over the to the door, carefully avoiding the body.

"Heey!" she yelled, "What's going on here?" Her call echoed down the hall and disappeared into silence. "Heeey!" she called again, with the same effect.

"Graft'll come for ya when he wants ya." A chill ran down Aleya's spine at this new voice. She looked around back at the corpse, but it still lay on the ground, unmoving. "I'm over 'ere," said the voice from the darkest corner of the room. It was dry, and sardonic. Her gaze followed the voice, her eyes straining in the dim light to see a man with ratty blond hair and a crazed look in his grey eyes. He was wearing a full suit of plate armor, though like it's surroundings, it seemed to have rusted in the damp air.

"Wh-who are you?" Aleya asked.

"Heh heh heh...I'm Siegfeld." the man responded. "So what's yeh in for?"

"I don't really know. They just came and took me away..."

"Hah!" The man said, but his mirth didn't reach those cold eyes. "Me, I was once one of the best Paladins in the world!" Aleya got the impression that this wasn't the whole truth. "Then I challenged that bastard Lineaux to a duel, and 'ee spanked me bad. I was paralyzed from th' waist down because of 'is blow to me back, and 'ee had Graft stuff me in 'ere. Oh," he said, remembering somehing, "You'll love th' food," and laughed rather derisively.

"Lineaux!" Aleya said, eyes widening in recognition, "I knew him. He got kicked out of the Windustian Alliance of Adventurers. I thought it was a little drastic for Shiroro, but yes, he was a troublemaker."

"Oh yes, a devious lit'le blighter he was. Kickin' up sand inta me eyes durin' the duel, oh no, I won't be forgettin' that," he cackled.

"So...you can't move your legs at all?" Aleya asked.

"Or me waist."

It dawned upon Aleya that he must have been awake when the dead man was thrown in. "Where did that man come from?" she asked, pointing to the corpse.

"Eh, poor Lexus. I guess there really ain't no honor among theives."

"So what happened?"

"Graft comes around, says he had somethin' to show Lexus, his boss. Lexus looks in, and Graft _stabs_ 'im in the back and shoves 'im in!" Siegfeld started cackling again. Aleya tried to get his attention, but he simply kept cackling madly. Great, she was stuck with a madman and a dead man and a dead man in a cell. Suddenly, she missed Seles badly. Where was she right now? Did she escape? Or had they also captured her? Or was the only one they needed herself? Had she been...

_No, she _can't_ be dead, she just can't! I still need to figure out my feelings for her!_

This thought startled Aleya with its clarity. The idea that there could once again be someone in her life had, until that point, been so absurd, and now she was seriously considering it?

Suddenly, there were klung-ing footsteps outside. The door opened, and a...something...was staring into the cell. It was furry, and it's body was dominated by a huge single eye and a grinning mouth. And it was floating! An Ahriman!

"Ah, you're awake!" it said, gesturing to Aleya, beckoning. "Come with me! Graft summons you!" Finally, she would get some answers as to why she was here. Siegfeld had stopped his maniacal laughter long enough to listen to the ahriman, then continued with renewed mirth. It echoed down the corridor as Aleya followed the Ahriman. down the corridor. They turned the corner, and there, lining the walls, were bars. Behind these, people were crammed in. They had dull looks in their eyes, as if they had lost the will to live...they were obviously alive, but they stared blankly into nothing. There were great multitudes staring silently, making no move except to breathe. It was possibly the creepiest sight she had ever seen. The Ahriman led her past this to a large rusted iron door. Opening it, it beckoned Aleya into a large room.

-

10

Questions

Lendolus shook Seles gently. "Seles, wake up, it's time to go."

"Nnh...mum..." she mumbled into her pillow.

He shook her a little harder. This yielded some results. "Huhwha?" she asked, trying to focus her eyes.

"It's time to go."

At this, Seles sat up immediatly, her mind racing. Today was the day she would see Aleya again, or die trying. Together, they walked to the bar, paid the tender for their rooms, and had the groom saddle their Chocobos.

"Lendolus?" Seles asked as they watched the handy groom work.

"Yeah?" Lendolus answered.

"Have you...lost interest in me?"

Lendolus thought for a moment. "Yeah, I guess that's one way of putting it."

"Why?" Seles asked.

"Well, let's just say Aleya can get really, really scary when she's being protective of someone else. Besides, my natural charm isn't working on you, and that makes wooing you too hard to be worth my trouble." Seles got the impression that that wasn't the whole reason, but decided not to press the matter.

They rode west across the dunes in the light of the rising sun. Both were rather quiet and contemplative. Lendolus led the way, weaving in between ridges and passages until they came to a cave.

"Gustav Tunnel," Lendolus announced, "Graft's compound is just inside. It's built into the ridge so that half of it is visible from the sea north of Vollbow. You're ready?" It was more of a statement than a question.

"As I'll ever be."

"Let's go, then."

-

Graft sat in his chair, reading the latest report. Soon, there would be enough souls for another shipment to Lineaux, and this time, he would steal that black crystal for his own, and he and his new master would be united! His creepy giggle sent chilled down the spine of Tok, who had brought him the report, and was still standing at attention. Suddenly, the door opened behind him.

"Master, I've brought the girl." the Ahriman said.

"Excellent." Graft said.

"Who are you, and why am I here?" Aleya demanded.

_BRING HER CLOSER. LET ME SEE HER FACE,_ the Voice said.

"Silence! Come here!" he ordered, and Aleya came closer. Graft stooped and looked at her.

_THIS IS NOT THE ONE, _the voice said.

"What?! TOK!" Graft shouted.

"S-s-sir?" Tok stuttered.

"You FAILED! This isn't the right one!" Graft screamed in rage. "Jangu! Have him executed! But first, take this wench back to the cell; I don't care how long you keep her there! And remove Lexus, I don't want him filthing up the place a day longer!"

"With pleasure, master!" the Ahriman grinned.

"I can explain!" Tok tried to say, "There were two girls, and there was a man there that shot Jax with a bow, and I couldn't..."

"Silence, dog!" Graft barked.

"Wait, you didn't answer my question!" Aleya said through the confusion, "What am I doing here? Why did you--" but she was cut off by a blunt object to the side of her head, and dropped like a brick. The Ahriman began dragging her back through the door and off to her cell leaving only Graft and Tok in the room.

"You know," Graft said, grinning evilly at Tok, "I think _I_ will kill you myself!"

-

_"It's just a little further. C'mon, this is my favorite place ever!"_

_Aleya walked along the road behind Relmm. This was her first time in Selbina, and Relmm had taken her to see all the shops and guilds. Her pack had become heavy with the stuff she had bought. As she walked, she thought. _

_How had she become so attached to Relmm that she would follow her anywhere? Ever since the day in the tombs, Aleya had followed her like a lost puppy. Since that day, Relmm had been her best friend in the world. Her only friend. Now she found that her feelings for Relmm went far beyond the closest friendship. She had never been very attracted to men, but she certainly wasn't attracted to women. She'd never even considered courting a woman, so why couldn't she get Relmm out of her mind? She kept thinking as they started out onto a dock._

_"Here we are." Relmm announced, shattering Aleya's reverie. Aleya looked up from the pier, and stared. The poles that rose up out of the water, that Relmm had earlier said helped guide fishing boats, had lights glowing at their tops, illuminating the bay in the twilight. The night was crystal clear, and the moon was just reaching over the ridge that surrounded Selbina Bay. All of this threw an eerie aura over Selbina._

_"It's...the most beautiful thing I've ever seen..." Aleya said in awe. "Well, the second most beautiful," she amended, then started at her own words. Did she just say that? Did she just_ mean _what she thought she said?_

_"Really?" Relmm looked curious. "What's the first?"_

_Now Aleya had a problem. Should she admit to Relmm, and thus to herself, that her feelings were real? She had to eventually, or lie through her teeth to make up an explanation for her previous statement, and there was no way in Vana'diel she would lie to Relmm. "The first," she said, looking Relmm straight in the eye, "is you."_

_Relmm stared back. By Aleya's look, there was no doubt in her mind what she meant by those words. She herself had always been open to the idea of a relationship with another woman. Her heart went out to Aleya with no hinderance. "Aleya, I..." she started, but couldn't seem to finish. _

_Aleya had registered the change in Relmm's face immediately, how it changed to mirror her own expression; softer, almost longing. She was scared, though, to make the first move, dreading that Relmm might panic and push away._

_Instead, Relmm made the first move, putting a hand to Aleya's face. Relmm's hand was so gentle, so soft, that she leaned her head into it a little. Relmm then pulled Aleya's head closer to her own. Relmm's face was so beautiful up close in the light of the moonlit bay, black hair cascading down either side and glinting in the light. It seemed to take forever for their lips to finally touch, but when they did..._

Aleya woke to a searing headache. "Nnnngh," she moaned, putting both hands to her head to try and make the pain leave. Cackling laughter rose from the other side of the cell. Great, just what she needed to hear.

"Bopped yeh a good one, did'ee?" Siegfeld asked.

"Unngh, shut up!" Aleya said irritably, trying to gather her thoughts and the remnants of her fading dream. _Relmm is gone_, she told herself.

"Aye, that bastard one-eyed freak likes to 'it people in the 'ead..." Aleya ignored him.

_But there is someone else_, a small part of herself answered. No! There couldn't, could there? And if she actually told Seles, what would her reaction be? Would she reject her? Would there even be any preference between men and women in Seles' amnesiacal mind?

She forced this question out of her mind, cursing herself for her insensitivity, (What kind of person would she be to take advantage of Seles' condition?) but more questions took its place. She lay back on the floor, resting her head on the side that didn't hurt (as much) as the questions multiplied.

-

Graft sat alone in his study, weeping. _Master!_ he thought, _Please forgive me! I was unable to carry out your will!_

_FEAR NOT,_ the Voice said, _TOK SAID SOMETHING INTERESTING. HE SAID THERE WERE TWO. KEEP ONE HERE, AND THE OTHER WILL COME. I HAVE GROWN STRONG ENOUGH. I WILL HAVE MY HOST, AND YOU WILL BE REWARDED BEYOND YOUR WILDEST DREAMS. BE PATIENT, AND WAIT._

_Master!_ Graft's tears of sorrow became tears of joy._ I won't let you down!_

To be continued.

Like what you read? Email me at jcaldora -(AT)- hotmail -(DOT)- com.


	4. An Unintentional Coup

Chapter 4

An Unintentional Coup

11

Soulless

Semirah stood on a ridge overlooking the complex. Her white hair and Mithran ears fluttered in the wind. Her tail swished back and forth.

"The time for revenge has come, hasn't it, Anurah?" she said.

Her wyvern gave a soft growl in response. Yes, she would kill that bastard, or die trying. Steeling herself, she walked down the ridge. Her wyvern follwed just behind.

She knew as she opened that rusted door that she would not come back alive. This meant she could finally atone honorably.

-

"Someone's been here before, and recently," Lendolus anounced upon finding the huge rusted door left open.

"That's bad?" Seles asked.

"It means that someone else knows about this secret passage." Lendolus replied grimly, bending down and picking something up. Whatever he had retrieved from the rusty floor was quite small, for he looked quite closely at it. "Wyvern scale." He flicked it away. "What's a dragoon doing here...?"

"No matter, we've got to hurry," Seles said determinedly, and started walking down the rusted hall.

"Whoa, wait up!" Lendolus hurried after her. "We don't know what's in here. Stay alert."

"I figured that much." Seles said.

They came to a door. This openned into another rusted metal room. There was a table at the center, and doors led from all four sides of the room.

"Where to now?" Seles asked.

"That door behind us was as far as I got. I had to pull some fast moves to avoid those two kidnappers he sent out."

"Well, I have an idea. Let's go right at every turn. That way, we'll see everything."

"Very well then," Lendolus said. They took the right door. This led to a stairwell that climbed two floors and ended at another door. Lendolus took note that all the doors had had braces, and could be jammed shut with a metal bar. This door they opened creakingly, and walked into a scene out of a nightmare.

This, it seemed, was a huge warehouse. They were on a rusted metal catwalk which was littered with wooden crates. This catwalk ran along the wall, and crossed the room in the middle. Below them was a huge machine. People were led - no, forced - into this machine through one opening, and through another opening, they came out, but, Seles noticed, with a distinct difference. Even from here, she could see on their faces that the life had gone out of them, as if they had lost their will to think. There was nothing behind their eyes, as if you could look through them and see the backs of their skulls.

As if they had lost their souls.

"Lendolus..." she said shakily. This was a sight that truly disturbed her.

"Do I see what I think I see?" Lendolus asked.

"This would explain your bartender's rumor of mysterious disappearances."

"Yes. Still, I would never have believed--"

"Keep it down!" hissed a new voice, and Lendolus' heart jumped. "Come over here, and get out of sight!" The voice came from a shadow behind one of the crates. There, in the shadow, was Semirah, the Mithra from the tavern the night before. She was in much the same armor she was wearing last night, but this time, she was wearing a spear on her back, and she was accompanied by a small blue wyvern. So, Lendolus thought, She is our dragoon!

"Oh, you're...Semirah, right?" Seles asked, but Semirah had already noticed Lendolus.

"Oh, it's you," she said disdainfully, looking at him. "What do you want here?"

"I'm on a job..." Lendolus said, avoiding her gaze.

"A job? Whatever it is, it better not conflict with my interests." Semirah laughed harshly. In the shadow of the crate, her scar looked even more pronounced.

"It doesn't matter to me. I'm in it for the money," Lendolus half-lied.

"What matters more," Semirah asked, "Good money or a cause that isn't all but lost?"

"If you're asking that question, then why are you here?" Lendolus retorted.

Semirah kept silent. Her face betrayed no emotion whatsoever, jsut as she had trained it to. Lendolus had hit a nerve, having come very close to touching the truth. Suddenly, her ears perked, recieving sounds that neither of the others could hear. "Get down!"

They crouched behind the crate obediently as a guard sauntered down the catwalk. "If they catch us, it's all over," Semirah said grimly.

As the guard passed, Seles was as quiet as she could possibly be. However, as she tried to maneuver herself into a smaller ball, her stiff, leathery new lizardhide armor made a small squeak of friction at one of the joints. The guard jerked his head toward the noise and began walking towards the crate.

-

Semirah immediately picked up the change in the guard's rhythmic pacing. It was coming straight for them. Knowing exactly where the guard stood and what his proprotions were by his footsteps, she maneuvered her spear off her back, and turned around. Suddenly, she rose, thrusting her spear out from around the crate and skewering the guard through the chest. Not good. She had meant to hit his throat. The guard emitted a hideous death cry and crumpled on the grated floor of the catwalk. Cries of alarm filled the room, and more guards appeared on the opposite side of the room. "I hope you two know how to fight," she said to Seles and Lendolus, who were still crouched behind the crate. The whole affair had taken less than five seconds.

The hume girl and...Semirah couldn't figure out just what Lendolus was...rose from their crouching positions and followed her to the central catwalk that stretched across the warehouse. The hume girl unstrapped her new shield from her back and unsheathed her sword, and Lendolus nocked an arrow to his bow. Suddenly, the girl called to her. "I'll take the point."

Semirah was surprised by the determination and bravery of this young girl who couldn't possibly yet be out of her kitten years. "Girl," she said, "You better know what you're doing."

"They can't be any harder than orcs." The girl replied.

"Here they come!" Lendolus said, drawing and firing in one swift motion. The first guard fell to the floor where the catwalk split off from the opposite wall to cut across the room, followed by a second and a third. The girl stepped forward in front of the two, holding her shield in a defensive stance, ready to deflect the first blows. There was no end to the guards now streaming out. The guards maintaning the machine below had abandoned their place in the call to duty and would-be soulless men and women ran free. And alarm sounded in the background, hammering into the ears of all.

The guards tripped and stumbled over those felled by Lendolus' marksmanship and rushed directly forward. Semirah studied them, feeling a dreadful certainty. The guards' eyes were as empty as the eyes of those she had seen coming out of that abominable machine below. They were soulless. Charging unthinkingly and inexorably forward. Whether they succeeded in eliminating the intruders or die trying, they had not the capacity to care. Even those already felled, reached out, pulling their failing bodies forward and scraping Lendolus' arrows along the rusted mesh. Some had even lifted themselves from the ground and staggered forward. She should've known he would 'employ' Soulless Soldiers, but she couldn't have known that he had altered them to keep fighting even after recieving fatal wounds.

The girl deflected the first charge nicely from the right side. She hacked and slashed at the soulless from behind her shield. From behind her and to the left, Semirah thrust her spear with her stronger left arm again and again, acting as flood control, preventing them from spilling over Seles. Her spear pierced faces, throats, and chests. Anurah, her wyvern, fired blast after blast of energy charged dragon breath, felling many more. Lendolus stood a pace behind them, firing barrages of arrows between their heads, his arrows finding throats, foreheads, and blank eyes.

They were, though, fighting a losing battle. The guards now stockpiled, patiently and silently waiting their turn to be slaughtered. They marched over their own fallen, forcing the three back across the catwalk. As they were slaughtered, their instinctual brains caused them to emit horrible, animal deathcries. "We can't win this!" Semirah called.

"What do we do, then?" Seles asked in reply. Semirah rolled her eyes, stabbing a guard in the stomach for the twentieth time. The girl knew how to fight, but she had almost no tactical sense.

"We retreat, that's what!" Lendolus called, eliminating any need for her to set Seles straight. He then recieved a stroke of genius. He took two pouches from his belt, and poured the powdery contents of one into the other. He then threw it down at the machine. His aim was good, and it bounced through into the intake opening.

Suddenly, Semirah felt a pain in her shins. One of the guards she had just felled had slashed its sword against her legs. She bit back a cry of pain. Such was further penitence, and must be accepted duly.

12

Retreat

Seles immediately noticed the change in her new companion's style of fighting, from dealing competently to a lagging, sloppy fighting style, and throwing her arm around her to support her, she half dragged the mithran dragoon back across the catwalk toward the door. Semirah struggled, but she was losing blood, and couldn't do much. Lendolus slammed it shut, and finding a metal bar, jammed it shut. The door immediately began to rattle against the bar. Semirah collapsed against it, and Seles saw what ailed her. Something had wounded both her legs at the shins. Blood was flowing freely. Immediatly, though, and instinctively, she knew what to do. Words came to her mind and she began chanting them, holding her hands out in front of the wounds. A ringing noise filled the room, resonating off the rusted metal, and rising in pitch as a blue glow began to surround Semirah's shins. The air sparkled blue with healing energy as the wounds closed, mending perfectly.

Lendolus cocked his head to one side in interest. "Ah," he said softly, "a Paladin..."

Semirah opened her eyes, knowing immediatly what had been done to her. "You fool! What are you doing?"

Seles stared at her hands, amazed at what she had done. "Um, I hope this is what you wanted?"

"No, idiot girl! You don't understand, I--" Semirah began, but Lendolus interrupted.

"I don't know what personal agenda you have, and I believe I'd rather not find out, but when someone does a favor to you, you thank them, not tell them off!"

"No, she'll do no such thing!" Seles said, "I'm sorry! That is, if what I did was bad."

Semirah stared incredulously from Seles to Lendolus. This lecherous man was giving her a lecture on manners?! And when he had no idea about her in the first place! Those wounds, that pain, it was welcome, it healed the wounds in her heart, and this man was chastising her for not thanking Seles for taking that pain away! She hissed dangerously, showing more the feline side of her nature, but stopped at that. She hadbeen wondering what about him seemed so familiar, and it had just hit her. It was his scent. Now she recognized him for what he was.

"You're a Mithra." She said, half in wonder, half in disgust. What was a male doing outside the home, much less carrying weapons?.

"Half Mithra," Lendolus corrected, almost automatically shifting his position to take up the defense, "my mother's side." Oh. That's what. Semirah's reason for disgust changed immediately.

"Fine," she spat, pointing at Seles, "But I'm not thanking _her_. I came here to die, and to take my enemy with me."

"That seems kinda stupid if you ask me," Lendolus said, "To throw your life away to bring down someone else, then not be alive to enjoy the friuts of your victory."

"You just don't understand!" Semirah shot back.

"I think we should be leaving," Seles interjected, "And you've lost a lot of blood. It'd be best to take it easy for now." The rattling of the door against the bar was increasing, and the bar itself was beginning to bend. With a nod of agreement from Semirah and Lendolus, she made back down the stairs to the first room.

"So," Lendolus asked, looking at the three other doors, "Where now?"

"We came in through that way," Seles said, pointing to the door on the left, "So we take that one." She pointed to the door on the right. Lendolus, again, shut the door behind them and, with a spanner, locked it shut. With that, Seles walked over to the right side door, and it opened with a scream of rust.

-

The door on the right opened into a long hall, which forked to the right about twenty yards down. Without hesitation or thought, Seles took the right fork.

And ran headlong into an ahriman, sending it bouncing a short ways down the hallway.

"Yeeow! Ow! Ow!" cried the ahriman. "What's going...hey!" It had spotted Seles. "Who're you? Intruders!"

"Ahriman! What is your buisness here?" Lendolus called.

"Me? I live here with my master!" the Ahriman grinned, "And I'mma go get him right now and tell him there's intruders! Later, suckers!" With that, the ahriman zoomed past Seles, knocking her off balance, and rocketed back down the hall from whence the three had come.

"Wait!" Semirah called after it, "I demand you take me to..." and ran out of breath, panting for more in her weakened state.

"Now what?" Seles asked.

"We have no choice but to keep going forward," Lendolus answered. "I'll help Semirah. We've got to go quickly!"

So they made as quickly as they could down the hall, until a change of decor caused them to slow, then stop dead in their tracks. On either side for about a hundred yards, the walls had given way to prison bars. And on both sides, multitudes of sightless, depthless eyes stared blankly at them.

After about a minute of terrible, astonished silence, Seles spoke up in a pained voice. "How...how horrible..."

Semirah swore. "All these people...for what?!"

"I see now what he's doing, but why?" Lendolus asked no one in particular.

A horrid thought hit Seles, and she gasped. "Hey! What if...what if Aleya's..." she gestured to the masses of soulless, unwilling to finish her sentence.

"No," Lendolus replied, "Your friend was captured in a pretty secure residential area. Were it out in the alleys or in the wilderness, it might have been just to fuel that...machine...."

"But Graft wanted us for a different reason," Seles finished, "I see. Then, we have to move on!"

Semirah, supported by Lendolus, tried to think as they advanced down the hallway. Graft? But that wasn't the leader's name...

-

Seles, propelled by a force of will she didn't know she had, sped down the now featureless hallway, looking in every barred door. In her haste, she left Lendolus and Semirah behind. Semirah had regained a little of her strength, but was beginning to feel horribly hungry. This she conveyed to Lendolus (she wasn't thinking clearly enough to recoil in disgust from him and excommunicate herself from him) and he produced some steamed crab meat wrapped in a rabbithide.

"So, you're from Kazham?" Lendolus asked.

"Yes," Semirah replied simply.

"I see," the ranger said, and fell silent, remembering his own time in Kazham.

_"Mama, where are we going?"_

_"Somewhere away from here." The mithra took the boy up in her arms, and half stumbled toward the docks. How they had found out, she didn't know. All she knew is that they wanted to kill her son for what he was. She staggered, and nearly fell into the ground as she dodged trees and huts, making along the boardwalk towards the airship dock. She discovered that if she ran a certain way, the arrow she had taken in his stead didn't hurt as much. However, this made her prone to falls. Angry shouts echoed behind them, and she picked up her pace._

_Reaching the main thoroughfare, she took a right towards the airship dock. The attendants at the customs, however, shied away upon seeing her wound._

_"Please!" the mithra said, "We have to get out of here!"_

_The attendant gave her and her child a pitying look. "I'm sorry, if you don't have a pass..."_

_The mithra looked around, and seeing an adventurer, called to him. "Please!" she pleaded as the Elvaan turned to face her, and held out her child. "Take Lendolus far away from here!" _

_"It is my duty, as a paladin, to help all in need," the Elvaan responded, fitting perfectly the formal stereotype. "I shall accept this charge."_

_It was then that the Cheiftaness' Guard arrived. Until earlier that day, the wounded Mithra had been a member of this fighting force. However, their recent discovery of her son had turned them against her. Goddess, even Captain Senya-Rhita was here!_

_"Give over the aboriginal!" Captain Senya-Rhita ordered._

_"Why?" the mithra pleaded, "Why must you hate him for what he is?"_

_"That child is an abomination, a shameful perversion of pure Mithran blood!"_

_"Then, take me instead! I was the one who caused him to be, by allowing that outsider into my life!"_

_The guard unit, however, had been advancing slowly. Senya-Rhita motioned to her second-in-command, who, in one fluid motion, nocked an arrow to her bow and fired. The mithran mother doubled over with another arrow in her lower torso as a great splashing and whudding of propellers announced the arrival of an airship._

_"Indeed," Senya-Rhita said, "That is a serious crime. While we of Kazham are open to adventurers, there are some lines that should not be crossed! We will deal with you...the child must still be killed." _

_The elvaan decided at this point that he had seen enough, and while it was obviously beyond his power to help this young woman, he could take the airship customs crew any time. He fled, flashing his pass and throwing a gilpurse at the customs attendant, swiftly sidestepping the galka. He moved quickly, even weighed down by the boy. Shouts and arrows flew after him as he ran across the dock and into the airship. The boy, by that time, was wailing._

Lendolus...that was the name his father had given to him before he had passed away, or so his mother had told him. A decidedly non-mithran name. A name that ended his mother's life. After their escape from Kazham, that man had brought him up as his own younger brother. Then he disappeared one day on a journey; he had never said where.

-

13

Revealed

A treble rumble resounded off the walls of the rusted cell as Aleya's stomach made known its desires. The jail stay was beginning to have its effect on her. The stench of rust filling her nose and Siegfeld's droning voice were gnawing at the edges of her sanity. She had all but given up hope of anyone ever coming to rescue her. The only two occasions she had tried to have a normal conversation with the madman had not gone anywhere fast. She hated to admit it, but only the thought of seeing Seles again was keeping her alive.

After a while, something felt missing. She wondered what it was for a second before realizing that it was the mad cackle of Siegfeld. He was now looking at her with that erratic silvery stare.

"What're yeh thinkin' s'hard about, missie?" he asked.

"Being rescued," Aleya said truthfully.

"Fat chance," Siegfeld chuckled.

Aleya sighed. He was probably right. Her mind filled with possibilities against Seles' favor. She didn't know where Aleya was being held. She wasn't powerful enough to rescue her.

This train of thought, however, was interrupted by a loud bashing sound, thundering throughout the metal cell. It came once again, and on the third time, the rusted door, weakened, came off its hinges completely. Aleya's heart did handsprings, for there in the door, was Seles. For a few seconds, they both stayed where they were, simply looking at each other. Then, suddenly Aleya had risen and Seles had dashed forward, clinging to her and weeping openly into her shoulder, repeating her name over and over. Aleya held her tightly back, offering comforting words, her own eyes tearing up.

Eventually they broke apart enough for her to look Seles in the eye. "Seles, how..." she asked, at a loss for words, and finally concluding with, "It's impossible..."

"No, it's _not_," Seles said fiercely, as if it were all a dream, as if it _were_ impossible, and somehow Aleya's words could jinx her to wake up. "You're here, and we're here, and I'm never letting you go!" With this, she tightened her hold on the smaller woman.

"We..?" Aleya asked, but her question was answered by a gasp coming from the doorway.

-

_"YOU?!"_ Semirah almost screamed. "Here?! But how...why..." She was pointing her finger incredulously at Siegfeld.

Siegfeld looked startled, but then began laughing so hard that Aleya began to fear he might have a heart attack. "Bwahahaha! Surprised t'see me, lass? I've come down in the world, you know."

Semirah could only stare in shock. "But if you're in here, who's running this place?"

"Lineaux's lackey, Graft."

"Those names mean nothing to me. Start talking, or I'll kill you right here and now!" Semirah threatened. Lendolus had appeared in the doorway, and stared with great interest as Semirah slowly advanced towards Siegfeld. Seles and Aleya still held each other, simply watching the whole scene.

"Fine!" Siegfeld shot back, "You want an explanation? I was overthrown! Usurped! Lost the favor of the crystal!" The favor of the crystal? Seles wondered what he was talking about.

"You mean you--" Semirah started, but was cut off.

Seigfeld spoke in a derisive tone, "'Lord' Lineaux, as 'ee now styles 'imself, stole away th' power of _my_ crystal, and handed me deadweight body off t'his lackey, Graft."

"Lineaux!" Lendolus said, astonished, "He's alive?!"

Siegfeld cackled. "Sure, kid, 'ee's alive, or what's left of 'im now't 'ee's got that damned crystal."

"Where is he? And what is this crystal?" Lendolus demanded.

"Gorsh, taxing, taxing," Selgfeld muttered, then answered, "He's probably at Mount Yuhtunga, where he built his base and abandoned this one to Graft. As for the crystal, it's a despicably evil thing, and with it's power, one can commit unspeakably evil deeds."

Lendolus stood agape. His adopted big brother, always kind and protective, doing evil? Impossible.

"That changes nothing!" Semirah said accusingly, "It doesn't change what you did to me, what you made me do..." Suddenly, the pain came back, overwhelming her and taking the strength from her, and she sank to her knees and wept.

"No, that doesn't, but _think_, foolish girl! Could _you_ possibly have resisted the will of Zen'daurlum?" He spat the name like a curse. "It has a mind of its own, you know. It has its own ulterior motives, and while you're wielding its power, it can do almost anything it pleases--"

He was interrupted, though, by the sudden appearance of another man in the room. Three pairs of eyes stared hatefully at the figure of Graft, standing in front of the doorway.

-

"Well, well, well, looks like the whole party's here. Managed to make quite a ruckus, haven't we?" Graft sneered.

"Graft! The time's come to settle things between you and my boss!" Lendolus said, nocking his last arrow.

"Oh, I wouldn't, if I were you. You see, I have power overwhelming now!"

"How do you mean?" Siegfried asked.

"I have gained the favor of Zen'daurlum! Lineaux will soon be overtaken by meeee!" Graft turned the last word into a shreiking giggle. Aleya couldn't tell whether it was worse than Siegfeld's mad cackle.

A loud boom resounded, interrupting him. Lendolus smirked, but it was wiped off his face as it was followed by another, louder one. The powder he had mixed was a timed explosive, but something in the machine must have been combustable too. Several more louder booms echoed through the hall outside, and the air became rather hot "What is this?!" Graft shreiked, looking back out down the hallway.

Lendolus took the chance, dashing past him, knocking him down, and yelling, "RUN!"

Seles started to follow, taking Aleya's hand, but she stayed still. "We can't leave Siegfeld, he's crippled and can't walk!"

"No..." he said, "Semirah...leave me here. Whatever is coming, leave me here for it. I will accept fate, and make good against the wrongs I have done to you. In return, I want to live your life without regrets, free of pain."

"I can't..." Semirah started, but Siegfeld interrupted.

"Just _GO!_"

Semirah nodded, and ran out, knocking a recovering Graft down again. Seles and Aleya followed. Aleya looked back to see the hallway illuminated by an ever expanding inferno racing straight for them. In the other direction, she could see daylight. She saw Semirah stumble and fall, and Seles picked her up and dragged her now body, now limp with exhaustion, towards the light. Running for it, she saw that it was a large opening, not barred, and Lendolus was jumping through it. Then Seles hoisted Semirah up through it before throwing herself through. Then Aleya was there, jumping...

...And falling straight down into the churning waters of the western Bastore.

-

To be continued.

Like what you read? Write a review, or email me at jcaldora -(AT)- hotmail -(DOT)- com.


	5. What Fate Had In Store

Chapter 5

What Fate Had In Store

14

Goblins

Graft regained his composure only to turn and see the ever-expanding inferno. It raced towards him hungrily like a wild beast toward its prey. He staggered backwards, rage and panic lancing through him. Rage that those fools had dared anything like this, and panic for obvious reasons. Holding his hands out as if to sheild himself from the fire, he called out in desperation.

"Zen'daurlum!" he screamed, "Save me!"

From out of nowhere, a black glow enveloped him. His body faded to dark blue, and vanished.

-

As Graft vanished, Siegfeld could have sworn he heard a dreadfully familiar voice whispering throughout the hall, but this was half ignored in his final thoughts. He was thinking of Seles, of how much she reminded him of him. That same face, and those same eyes. The first man I killed, for control of ultimate power...

This was his last thought before death came for him in a fiery blaze.

-

This was not as Lendolus had expected. The opening had dropped them into the Bastore south of the penninsula. Lendolus fought to stay above the waves as he heard three more splashes. He made for the nearest sounding one. Seles had kept her wits about her and was now struggling to keep above the water. She was also calling for Aleya.

"Quiet! Don't call, just breathe, and follow me if you can!" Lendolus shouted to her, somewhat confident in her ability to stay above water. He then made for the next dark form in the water. Aleya wasn't doing as well as Seles; her head was below water twice as much as above. Lendolus got to her first, helping to hold her up until Seles got there. He then left her with Seles and went off to find Semirah. Semirah was unconscious, but floating. He tried to rouse her, but she didn't respond. At that moment, Seles cought up, struggling to keep both her and Aleya's heads above water.

"What do we do now?" Seles asked.

Lendolus looked back at the sheer cliffs that rose to the north. "We make for whitebone!" he said, finding his bearings by the position of the midafternoon sun.

"I don't think Aleya can make it, however far it is!" Seles replied.

"Hey," Aleya called weakly, "What's that?" She pointed off at a black spot to the northwest.

"That's a ship." Lendolus answered incredulously. "What's a ship doing this far west of Selbina?"

"It's coming this way!" Seles exclaimed.

For the next few minutes as the ship swiftly approached, Aleya struggled to keep above water. Seles was a big help, added support, but she was just too tired and the water a little too cold. She moved slower and slower, her mind shutting down just as the rickety ship drew near...

-

For the third time in as many days, Aleya woke to a headache. This time, however, as she moved, shaking her head, it dissipated gradually. There was a constant lurching motion of her surroundings, which only served to displace most of the queasiness in her head to her stomach. She forgot it altogether though when she heard something dreadfully familiar. It was the gutteral speech of a goblin, and it was speaking in her language. She fumbled through the haze of breaking sleep for her sword, forgetting she had none.

"Guhh! You awake! Good, Good! Now you eat!" the goblin said.

Now, this was strange. Aleya had seem goblin merchants, but they were always distrusting of people. This one was greeting her and suggesting that she eat. Strange, but there were things she needed to know first. "Where's Seles?" she asked.

"Seles? What that? Good to eat?" the goblin asked, confused.

"No, no," Aleya said, "Tall girl, gold hair?"

"Other Hume girl? She up top. You come eat." The goblin insisted.

Aleya, fearing a trap, but not knowing what else to do, complied, and followed the goblin up some stairs. These were hard to climb, as her muscles seemed as rubber, and would not obey her. The goblin led her to a dining room...of sorts. This was a somewhat larger room was a kitchen and eating place in one. At one end, a goblin stirred a large pot, and at the other, there was a small table. Everything was made of creaky wood. The goblin at the pot looked up as she entered, and walked over to her, offering its hand in greeting.

"'Lo," it said, "name Mixnix. I cook. You eat." Taking a metal dish down off the shelf, Mixnix spooned two heaps of the mystery food from the pot into it, and offering it to her.

Aleya was shaking off the remnants of sleep, coming into full consciousness. She wanted to see Seles and was more than a little worried about her, but instead, decided to ask, "Why is it that you're helping me? This hospitality is...strange coming from goblins."

Mixnix laughed. "We good goblins. We strike rich, go to Windurst to sell! So happy, we let you come," Mixnix shook a chubby finger, "but you help too! You weak now, get strong again to help. Eat lots." With this, Mixnix again offered the dish of grub to Aleya. It looked quite nasty, but did smell kinda good...

...Which was why, not five minutes later, Aleya tapped a fork on the metal dish, and asked, "Can I have some more?"

-

A few minutes later, Lendolus joined her. "Oh, you're awake," he said.

"How long was I asleep?" Aleya asked.

"Not too long. After we warmed you up, you slept for a good twelve hours."

"What about Seles?" Aleya asked, hoping for a direct answer.

"She's on the deck. She said she'll come down in a minute."

"Mever mind that. I'll go to her."

Aleya finished her second dish of grub, and took another pair of stairs leading up. She had felt her strength returning with every bite she ate and now had no trouble traversing them.

-

15

Rememberance

In the face of the approaching inferno, all Seles could feel was fear. She had run. for the second time, she had run, leaving Aleya behind. Her heart filled with shame, she nearly burst into tears before halting herself forcefully. Instead, she looked out over the wide Bastore at the cliffs of Gustaberg passing slowly by in the distance, until she was jerked back to reality by the door to the deck being opened.

"Seles..." came Aleya's voice. This time, Seles did burst into tears. Through her armor, she faintly felt Aleya's hand on her back making comforting strokes, but this made her weep even harder. It was all her fault. She had run.

"Nothing is your fault, Seles," Aleya said, reading her face, and tried to pull her into an embrace. Seles, however, pulled away, shaking her head.

"You don't understand," she said, "I ran. Again." A sense of pride she had never known was there, having been built up perhaps since the day she fought off the orcs in Ronfaure, that she could defend Aleya, had been horribly broken. She ran, and had done so without even being told by anyone. Tears streaked her face, which was pointed away, avoiding eye contact. Aleya took that face forcefully in her hand.

"And what does that have to do with the price of tea in Windurst? Think! You're a Hume, Seles! We are not perfect, nor are any of the other races! As people, we cannot dictate when fear takes over!" Aleya stepped closer, and Seles stepped back.

"It wasn't just fear," Seles said, "It was outright panic. I was supposed to..." Supposed to, wanted to...defend you, she wanted to say, but words wouldn't come.

Whether by fate or by coincidence, Aleya seemed to read her mind again. "Seles, you're letting your self image cloud your heart. Defending is what you do. If we become what we do, then we lose who we are. Someone once told me that if you lose sight of who you are, then your life becomes a jumble of disconnected fleeting memories, most easily crippled by the slightest emotion." Aleya remembered clearly the time Relmm spoke those words to her.

At those words, Seles felt an acute shock of vertigo. It felt as if she were falling and soaring high at the same time. But as suddenly as it began, it stopped just as she grabbed Aleya's shoulders for balance. "Listen, if there's anything I can do to..." she started, but Aleya put a finger to her lips.

"Seles, there is nothing to reconcile between us. If anything, I want you to forgive yourself." With this, she withdrew her finger, and tilted her face up to meet Seles' own. "I love you, Seles," she said, and--

FLASH.

She giggled at a joke Sunder had just told. "That's what I love about you sis," he chuckled, "you're so easily amused."

FLASH.

She sat beside the hospital bed, not daring to look away from his face, not daring to look at the gory mess the doctors had spent hours in vain trying to stitch up. "Kiddo, I guess this is goodbye," Sunder said lightly, almost as if he wasn't in pain at all, but rather lounging peacefully. "And wherever I'm going...next...I'll always love you and Mum."

FLASH.

She sat on her mother's lap and wept into her shoulder, just like she would when she was a child crying over an injury. "Seles, you know I love you," her mother said, "Never forget that."

FLASH.

"Are you ready for this?" Sunder asked as Seles turned the keys in the ignition of his 1995 Seleca.

"Hey, you know, I drove Mum's car loads before this!" Seles replied, somewhat indignant. She was fifteen, and learning to drive. She was just beginning to learn about real life; she made good grades, always did her chores. She was the perfect little All-American girl. She loved her brother Sunder dearly. He had looked after her for all her life and was the closest thing to a father she had. While she pretended to be offended by his concern, deep down she treasured it dearly.

"The old Seleca is pretty different from Mum's minivan, you know. The handling's all different."

"I'm sure I can get the hang of it," Seles said.

And on that fateful night, the late-January weather had taken a turn for the nasty in central Tennessee...

The vertigo returned, and Seles was spinning...no, the world was spinning, making a ninety degree shift around her so that her back was to the wooden deck of the goblin dinghy. Aleya cried out, half in frustration, and half in surprise. What was happening to Seles? She had looked like she had seen a ghost! Aleya rushed forward as the taller woman fell, catching her softly. "Seles," she gasped, "Are you okay? ...Seles! Can you hear me?"

She sat alone in her bedroom, absentmindedly working out the math problems and writing down the answers. For the two years since Sunder had died, she had been rather dead inside. She went to school, went to work, played games, but she was as a dead shell. She had alienated herself from her friends, choosing instead to console herself with the epic fantasy in books and games. She refused to admit that she was losing herself. Finishing with her homework, she put her math book away and switched on her television. She smirked, (the half-smile never reaching her eyes, the mirth never reaching her heart,) seeing the words "Version update complete." on her screen, picked up the controller, and pressed X. As she did, the world began to spin around her...

-

Below deck, Lendolus sought out Semirah. He found her sitting against a crate, sharpening the tip of her spear. "Oh," she said, without looking up, "It's you." She made very little effort to hide her disgust.

"What's your problem, miss?" he asked, deliberately mistaking her tone of voice.

Semirah muttered something about half-breeds, and returned to sharpening her spear.

"I'm sorry? What was that about half-breeds?" Lendolus asked. "Because I distinctly heard half-breeds." Semirah began to hiss, gripping the spear more tightly, but at that moment, Aleya appeared in the door Lendolus had entered from.

"Guys!" Aleya said, "It's Seles, she's fainted!"

The two forgot their near-row arguement, and ran to assist Aleya.

-

"She be not sleep, but be not wake," said a goblin who had identified itself as Jignix. "She got big head-hot."

Seles lay in a crude Goblin bed. Her face was flushed, and she was sweating bullets. Occasionally she shifted, whimpering. Aleya guessed that by 'head-hot', Jignix meant a fever. At that moment, Mixnix returned with a damp cloth as Jignix, obviously the leader of this goblin menagerie, had ordered. Jignix laid it on Seles' forehead. "Is there anything else we can do?" Aleya asked.

"Don't know," said Jignix, obviously puzzled. "I never see this before. 'Choo wanna let her be. That be best. Till she wake."

-

Lineaux studied the crystal with great apprehension. All the anti-light seemed to have faded from it, and with it, its presence from his mind. Suddenly, a warp spell sounded behind him, and the familiar voice of his servant Graft sounded behind him. "Guess who," Graft said, and Lineaux's world was filled with pain that exploded from his back and stabbed through his chest and heart. He looked down unbelieving at the blade protruding from his chest, and then all went hazy...

Graft laughed as the crystal began emanating that dark antilight. He still might be rewarded beyond his wildest dreams.

"Shiroro, I'm sorry..." Lineaux muttered as his eyes stared unseeing.

Then Graft pulled his blade from the Elvaan's body, and Lineaux slumped forward, dead.

-

A solitary figure stood atop one of the high arches that rimmed the Ru'Lude Gardens, staring at the setting sun. He looked out to the southeast. Not an hour ago, he had sensed a shift in power from that direction that could only mean one thing; that the would-be usurper to the City in the Sky, a now disembodied essence of an ancient of days, had regained his former power. Now, he was recalling all his loyal servants to him, and would begin seeking in earnest a vessel suitable of carrying the spirit of a deceased Zilart.

A larger figure appeared beside him. "Brother, he has returned," the first, smaller figure said.

"Yes. I am going to seek out those I believe capable of apprehending him," the larger figure answered.

"He will never have the City in the Sky, will he?"

"You had best hope not. I have buisness to attend to."

The larger figure dissappeared. The smaller began chuckling to himself. Soon would come the day...

-

The Great Star Tree of Windurst loomed in the distance. Lendolus saw it, looking over the deck of the dinghy. It was illuminated eerily by the full moon. He and Semirah had avoided each other, and just as well. He had been brought up quite proud of his mixed blood, and Semirah hated him for it. It would be best if they stayed apart, at least until this all got sorted out.

Aleya, however, never noticed that they had entered the bay area of Port Windurst. She had stayed by Seles' bed all night, leaving only for a minute or so to get water for herself or a new damp towel for Seles. As soon as she had convinced Jignix she was capable of caring for her, the goblin had gladly departed to discuss with its company the ways in which they would spend their newly-acquired fortune.

Seles' condition had been improving rapidly. She hadn't stirred in the last hour, and her face looked peaceful. She was obviously in a deep sleep now. Her fever had all but faded.

Aleya had been getting rather drowsy and was just beginning to drift off when she thought she saw Seles stir.

Seles was in a rather soft bed. It was pleasant, but definitely not her own. This thought disturbed her from her deep slumber, and her mind groped for consciousness. She sat up in the bed, opening her eyes. Someone was talking to her, saying her name, but that wasn't important, not compared to what her eyes met.

She wasn't in her room. This was a strange place, with a rustic feel and a gentle rocking. It must be a boat, but weren't ships supposed to be built so you couldn't tell you were at sea unless you looked at it? Panic flooded her. This wasn't her room! Where was her television, her desk, and her computer?

"Seles?" Aleya said her name for the fourth time, trying to get her attention. Seles was turning her head frantically around the room as if looking for something. Finally, she looked at Aleya, and immediately Aleya could see in her eyes that something wasn't right.

"Who are you?" Seles asked. "Where am I?"

To be continued.

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And please, don't forget to review! At this point, I badly need some constructive criticism!


	6. Beginnings of a Counterstrike

Chapter 6

Beginnings of a Counterstrike

16

Windurst

"Where am I?" Seles asked again. "This isn't my room!" It was as if the past week or so hadn't happened at all.

"Seles, don't you remember anything?" Aleya asked.

"What is this, some kind of joke?" Seles demanded, "Some kind of cheesy show Mum thought up to cheer me up?"

"Seles, it's me, Aleya!" Aleya tried to calm Seles down.

"Very funny. I'm going home." Seles got up and out of bed, and immediately noticed how she was dressed. She was in some kind of gaudy hard leather suit! "What the hell? What is this?" Now she was panicked. Finding a door, she raced out, to find what could only be described as a classic "Cat-girl".

"Oh," Semirah said, "you're awake! That's good, we're just entering the port."

"No! This isn't real!" Seles cried, and ran past. This was a large room, a dining hall, and at the far end was a door. She burst through that door, up the stairs, and out onto the deck.

Silvery stars dotted a sky too vividly dark blue to be real. A moon brighter than any she had known illuminated clearly the most impressive vista she had ever gazed upon. Before her, lights dotted a shore of docks and longboats. As many of these longboats seemed to be shops as there were warehouses. All this was surrounded by lush greenery, and beyond she could see lights from a city, though they were far more ranging in hues than the coppery halogen and phosphorescent of the cities she knew. For one, they were brighter, more full of life, as if they were actually happy to be giving off light. However, these wonders were dwarfed literally by a massive tree towering in the background. Rising hundreds of feet, its branches spread over thousands.

"Windurst," Aleya said, supplying a name for this breathtaking moonlit panorama.

"How can this be?" Seles whispered. "I sat down to play my game..." Realization shot through her like an arrow. "My game! I read...this is the place with the tree! And that was a...Mithra?!" She rubbed her eyes. "No, it can't be real. It's all a dream, and I'll wake up soon."

"You don't remember anything of the past week, do you?" Aleya asked.

"A week?" She looked at Aleya. Seeing her face, her heart gave a twinge, as if there were something she were supposed to remember about her, but it was gone as quick as it came.

"Oh," they were joined by another voice, "our sleeping maiden has awoken!" Lendolus called from the open door. "Hold on, I'll get Jignix, he wanted to see you when you woke."

"No need," growled a dry, gutteral voice from behind him, "I be here." Lendolus stepped aside to reveal...a goblin?"

"Oh my God..." Seles said, as she stepped back.

"What? 'Choo be afearin' me now? Why for?" the goblin asked. "I be yo doctor, an' I heal 'choo up, and you be afearin' me?"

_It's all a dream_, she thought, _it's all a dream..._

_"It be not dream, missie," the goblin...Jignix, as that man had called him...said. Jignix took his stick, and rapped Seles sharply on the head. "Izzat feel like dream to 'choo?"_

Seles clutched her head, massaging her scalp. "You little, that hurt...wait..." That _did_ hurt! As far as she knew, people didn't get hurt in dreams.

"As far as I can tell," Aleya was saying to Lendolus, "She's regained all her memory, but lost everything that happened this last week."

"Wait, she'd lost her memory?" Lendolus asked, confused.

Semirah appeared at the door. "Hey," she called, "Seles, what's your problem?"

Seles motioned frantically with outspread hands. "Okay, stop!" she yelled, "Everyone shut up, and let me sort this out!"

-

"So then we got picked up by these goblins?" Seles asked as one of the Goblins negotiated with a dock keeper. She still didn't wholly believe their story, but it would account for how they all seemed to know her. Once again, she replayed the events of the last night before she woke up in this world. She had just bought _Final Fantasy XI, _and had finished updating it, when...Well, that's where things got fuzzy.

Aleya was about to respond, when Lugnix,who had identified himself as the official negotiator of the menagerie, returned. "We gots permission tah dock," he announced, and proceeded to the stern. Jignix and Mixnix followed, and began making busy to dock the ship.

"So, what do we do now?" Lendolus asked.

"We need to take Seles to see a doctor," Aleya replied, "and I know a rather good one. She should be back in Windurst by now."

"I also want to find out what exactly happened to send you charging blindly into Lin...Graft's hideout," Semirah corrected herself, just returning from below deck. She had gone below to fetch their equipment, so she had missed the finer points of Aleya's breif explanation to Seles of the events that past week.

"We'll do that too, if you want. But for now, we have to get going," Aleya said.

"First, take your weapons." She handed the sword to a rather perplexed Seles, ("Why does it feel so light?") but paused for a moment before handing Lendolus his bow and quiver.

"This bow is in poor condition," she said. "It's too loose." She demonstrated, bending the bow with much more ease than she should have. To test, she strung it, took an arrow, notched it, and let it fly. She did this all in the space of perhaps a second. It hit a nearby wooden beam with a loud _thok_. "Yes," she confirmed, as if the result didn't satisfy her, "Much too loose."

Lendolus was stunned. A Dragoon with enough skill in bows to know that much? He was about to inquire further when she shot him a warning look as she handed him his bow and quiver. "Cold," he muttered under his breath.

Aleya thanked the goblins profusely and promised to come back and check up on their buisness sometime. Then they set off, Lendolus filling Semirah in on the crazy adventure they had just been on.

-

"So, you came to find out what Graft was up to?" Semirah asked. It was unspoken between them that they would put their differences to rest, at least until they got this all sorted out.

"You could say that. But even more, I'm seeking adventure."

"So, who paid you?"

"He's an enigmatic man named Bildo. He seemed to have some personal vendetta against Graft. Anyways, he's paying good money for information, and I've hit the motherlode."

They entered the Residential Area just as the first streaks of violet appeared in the eastern sky.

"So, you must have come in right after me..." Semirah mused.

"Yeah, but why were you there? And what about this Zen'Daurlum character?" Lendolus asked, curious.

"I had a personal score to settle...with that man that was in the cell. And I don't want to talk about..._it_. Not yet."

"I see," Lendolus said, and let the matter rest.

17

Mission

"Why, if it isn'taru Aleya and company!" Shiroro exclaimed. "Come on in, I was justaru getting ready to go to the clinic!"

It was nearing dawn, and those stars in the sky not obscured by the reaches of foliage provided by the Great Star Tree could be seen fading one by one in an ever-lightening sky. Aleya knew well the pattern of life for her friend. Each morning before sunrise, Shiroro would pad over to the clinic in Windurst Waters to practice her (relatively) new profession.

"Thank you, Shiroro, you're the best," Aleya said.

"Never mind thataru, you're always welcome in my home. Now, what have we here? Notaru a week out of my sight and here we are again! Dearie," she said, turning to Seles, "What ails you this time?"

"She regained her memory, or so it seems," Aleya said.

"Goodness, then whataru ever are you doing here?"

"It seems she came here from another world, and now she can't remember a thing about this world."

Another world. Another world. These words were as a criminal sentence to Seles. If this were indeed real, and she were inside another world, a _video game_, then how did she get out? On the other hand, she was very curious as to what exactly had happened between her last night in her own world and early this morning.

"Another world? My, I mustaru learn more about that sometime. So," Shiroro said, getting back on track, "whataru you're saying is that she regained her memory, but lost her memory back to the point where she had previously lost it?"

"It seems that way," Aleya said.

"Well, if it's just simple amnesia, that's no problem! In fact, she doesn'taru even need medicine! Time is the best medicine. Girl, you justaru take your time. It'll all come back to you."

They were interrupted by a knock at the door. Shiroro answered it. It was an Elvaan, dressed in finery of a San d'Orian Consul worker. "Excuse me," he asked, "Is there an Aleya here?"

"That's me," Aleya said. "How can I help you?"

"We've recieved a request from our consulate in Jeuno. Would you drop by the consulate later so we can discuss this in private?"

"Okay..." Aleya said.

"Thank you. I'll see you there." The Consul worker saluted, and left.

At that moment, Resin arrived, carrying a platter of food. "Of coursey I can't let my guests starvey! Omelettes for all!" Aleya wondered yet again at how he always had enough food prepared to feed several. Seles, however, took one and began wolfing it down, glad to just have something in common with this world: Omelettes.

-

"Oh, Aleya. Thank you for coming. We've been expecting you." So said the same consulworker as had come to Shiroro's house. "If you'll come this way?" The man led her to the back door, and when he saw that her other three friends had followed, said, "I'm sorry, but you're going to have to stay."

"It's alright, we're friends," Aleya said.

"...Very well," the man sighed, and opened the door.

Aleya stepped forward into the room. It was as if she had become a different person altogether; she stood up straight and proud and dignified. She saluted the Consul smartly, and Seles, at a loss, tried to mimic her. Lendolus and Semirah simply bowed with their hands holded together.

The consul, who had been scribbling on a piece of parchment with his chocobo feather quill, paused to look up. "At ease," he said simply, and got up. The four relaxed somewhat, but Aleya still maintained her air of dignity. "The reason I've called you here is that we've recieved orders from our Jeuno consulate. It seems there is a growing threat on Elshimo Island, an extremely powerful foe. It's actually quite an interesting story. The messenger who brought me these orders says he saw something strange before he was sent here. He claims that a figure cloaked in all black appeared before the ambassador, urging her to seek out the most able warriors of her nation to counter a great threat rising in the far southeast. Elshimo. She tried to turn him away, but then the stranger pulled back his cloak just enough for her to see his face, and she started stammering that she'd start right away."

"Did your messenger get a look at his face?" Aleya asked.

"No. Apparently, he was at the wrong angle. When he tried to question her later, she brushed him off, and sent him here. She also sent messengers to the King, and our consulate in Bastok."

"So, you want us to investigate this?" Lendolus asked.

"Well, I sent for Aleya because I've heard of her exploits. She's practically famous among the higher-ups in San d'Orian government," the consul explained.

"You've been adventuring for a while, haven't you?" Semirah asked.

"I'm sorry, you've got the wrong person for the job," Aleya said quietly. "I'm...retired. I have been so for a year now."

"But surely you cannot have lost all your skill in just a year!" the Consul said, almost pleading.

"I'm sorry, but that life is behind me," Aleya said, not allowing herself to remember the event which had caused her to quit.

Seles spoke for the first time in perhaps an hour. "I'll go," she said. Everyone stared at her, and she continued. "I was brought into this world from another. If that is the case, and I am indeed not dreaming, then that can only mean one thing – that I was brought here for a purpose. I don't know what the purpose is, but if I travel to as many places and see as many things of this world as I can, perhaps I can learn of it."

To which Lendolus replied, "I won't be left out of it. I still haven't given up on you, you know. Besides, I have a score to settle with Graft on behalf of my employer."

Aleya thought for a while. The reason she had quit adventuring was because Relmm – No. She pushed the thought back. That was in the past. The past is over."I guess...we'll do it," she sighed.

"Excellent," the consul said. "Of course, you'll be well paid for your efforts. Here are your passes; you depart on a specially chartered airship bound for Kazham."

"What do you mean, 'we'?" Semirah demanded, "As far as I knew, we aren't a 'we'!"

Once decided on her position, Aleya defended it determinedly. "You know as well as I what was meant by 'a threat from Elshimo'. Siegfeld said that Graft's master resided there."

"Hey, how did you know I wanted to find out about..."

"I may not have Mithran ears, but I'm not deaf either," Aleya said.

Once again, Seles looked at Aleya's expression and felt that there was something rather important she was supposed to remember. This feeling stayed with her even as they followed her back to the Residential Area.

-

"Shiroro?" Aleya called as she knocked.

"She's outy at the clinic!" Resin called back, "Hold on a tick!"

They stood waiting at the door to Shiroro's house. A few seconds later, the door opened and Resin popped out. "Hullo," he said, "Is there anything you wanty?"

"I'm here to pick up my old clothes," Aleya said, "...And my money."

"The clothes?!" Resin asked, "Aleya! Does this meany...?"

"Yes, I'm going adventuring again."

"Well, come in, come in, and I'll get them for you!" Resin said, opening the door all the way and welcoming them with a flourishing bow. "They're righty this way; you can change in me'n'Shiroro's room." And he led her to another room. Returning, he asked, "Well, now, does anyone want something to eat while they wait?"

-

Ten minutes later, Aleya reappeared out of the master bedroom. The rest could only stare. She seemed a figure of all red. Immediately noticable was the overcoat she wore. It was a red tabard, but it was far longer than an ordinary tabard. It reached down to her ankles, so that one couldn't tell whether she was wearing a cloak or a coat. It was fastened with a belt around her waist which held a sheathed, ornately decorated degen. Just as striking was the hat she wore. It was a red cap with a wide brim. The black ribbon around its base held an extravagant white feather.

"Wowee," Lendolus exhaled, "Where'd you get all that?"

"Well, I've been adventuring for a while..." Aleya said, and Seles knew somehow that there was something she wasn't telling, but let it alone.

"Looking awesome," Resin said, "but what do you need the money for?"

"My friend is poorly equipped for her level of skill," Aleya said, gesturing to Seles.

Skill? What, if any, combat skill did Seles have? The only skill she had was in button mashing.

"Alright," Resin said, looking Seles over, "it's your money."

-

"No, you've got it on backwards," Aleya said. They were back in Resin and Shiroro's bedroom after an hour of shopping the Auction House. At the moment, Seles was feeling rather foolish trying to put on a Royal Knight's mail suit. One thing she had noted was that in this world, she was far, far stronger than she had been. She was now able to carry a full suit of chain links and joint plates in her arms with relative ease. Not only that, but she was faster on her feet, and felt so much lighter and energetic. It was a struggle putting the new armor on, though, and she realized she was having trouble breathing because it was too tight around the chest...at least, on the front. Hastily she removed the chain shirt and put it on the other way around, pulling her arms thought the chain sleeves. She felt a little heavier, but she could still walk around, and she could _breathe_ due to a few extra rows of steel links on the front. The inside of the armor was lightly padded with linen.

"That's right," Aleya said, "Now, stand up."

Seles did as she was told, and Aleya girded her scabbarded sword with a belt around her waist. "There," she said, "All done."

"Aleya," Seles asked, "Why are you doing this for me? I haven't done anything..."

"No," Aleya interrupted, "It's my treat."

"Oh. Well then, thank you. I'm in your debt," Seles said.

"No, you owe me nothing." Again, Aleya had that strange look in her eye, and again, Seles thought there was something she was supposed to remember. It seemed as if it were right there, that she could reach out and grasp it, but as she tried, it retreated just out of reach.

"Anyways, the airship will be arriving soon," Aleya said, "Let's go."

18

Stories

As they waited for the airship to take off, Seles lost herself in deep thought. The past six hours had been almost like a dream, but no matter how she tried to reason it out, she wasn't dreaming, she _was_ stuck in another world, and it was more than likely that she had been for at least a week and had lost memory of that week. The question was, did she really want to find a way back? There was nothing for her in her old world; nothing worthwhile. She had thought, for a time, that she could make a living putting her expertise at fixing computers to good use, but she had lost the will to do that after Sunder's death.

This world, however, seemed much brighter. The air was cleaner, the colors more vivid, and even the fresh...aura this world seemed to have was making her forget the emptiness in her heart; she could think about Sunder, and not burst into tears. Maybe she should stay, and make a new beginning.

And what about Aleya? What was it about her that Seles so desperately couldn't remember? She seemed the kindly type, as one who loved life and happiness, yet strong-willed, and dominant. Whenever Aleya looked at her, she could see a change come over her face to an expression that she had seen a few men wearing when they looked at her, but whether it was because she had been indifferent to the outside world or because she really wasn't interested in the attentions of either gender, she couldn't place it.

She was snapped out of her reverie as presently the airship began to move. She braced herself as it moved faster and faster, then tilted upwards and into the sky. She had been on an airplane before, but this was nothing like the smoth, powerful takeoff of something so big and fast, and she strained herself to keep on her feet in the passenger cabin. Aleya was in much the same situation. Semirah simply leaned back against the back wall, and Lendolus was crouched in the corner, the effort to keep from retching visible on his face.

-

Eventually, the airship leveled out, and it was safe enough to move around again. Semirah turned to them.

"Guys," she said, "I need to talk with you. I know something of the threat we face."

"You know who's behind this?" Aleya asked.

"Please listen," Semirah said, and began.

"The only possible conclusion is that Zen'Daurlum has finally regained his former strength."

"Zen'Daurlum?" Aleya interrupted, feeling a wave of dreadful recognition uopn hearing that name. However, she couldn't for the life of her figure out why. "What..."

"Zen'Daurlum is the foul cursed spirit of a survivor of an ancient race trapped within a black crystal." Semirah continued, "is malice gives him strength to partially possess the weak-minded and ambitious, but his true power he derives from souls distilled from living people."

"The Soulless..." Aleya said, indredulously.

"Yes. The people he possesses, he uses to carry this out. For countless years he has preyed on souls, building up the power he had when he was still alive. However, when he possesses people, it drains something within them, so he has to recycle his servant every few years or so."

"And how do you know?" Seles asked, "Were you...?"

"I was not," Semirah answered, "But just as good as. When first I learned of it, I was a mercenary under the contract of Siegfeld, the 'madman' in that cell. What I didn't know was that he was completely under the influence of Zen'Daurlum. I don't know how it happened, but he subverted and brainwashed me with the black crystal's power."

Semirah collected herself before continuing, steeling herself to relive the darkest years of her life. "I was ordered to carry out his work of collecting souls, and through the exchange of large sums of money, was stationed in Kazham as Lieutenant Captain of the Guard, whence I performed unspeakable atrocities against my will."

Lendolus, quite suddenly forgetting his airsickness, snapped his head up to look at Semirah. "What did you say?!" he demanded. "You were Lieutenant Captain?" He got up and grabbed her shoulders. "When was this?!"

Semirah stared back questioningly. "About eight years ago, why?" Lendolus didn't respond. He was looking past her, beyond her into his own past. "Hello?" she asked, waving a hand in front of his face.

Suddenly, he snapped back. "N-nothing. It's nothing." It couldn't be anything. Could the Mithra standing before him be the one who had fired that arrow? She certainly had amazing skill with bows...

"Anyways," Semirah continued, "I've since regained control of myself about a year ago, and this talk of Lineaux and Graft have led me to reason out that Siegfeld lost his control over me when he was defeated in combat by Lineaux. Now, it seems that the Black Crystal has set its eye on Graft. But, if he's restored to his power, then no mere possessee will do. Graft may think he has truly gained the favor of the black crystal's power, but what Zen'Daurlum covets most of all is a true vessel for his spirit, a new, living body. Once he has achieved that, he will be unstoppable."

A gloom descended over the four as if a grim sentence had been proclaimed.

"I think I'm going to be sick..." Lendolus managed before dashing out of the room and up the stairs towards the deck.

"Semirah, I have a question." Aleya said, "I've been adventuring for several years, or had been before I quit. How is it that I never learned of this?"

"Because Zen'Daurlum and his associates have, until recently, operated in utmost secrecy, drawing out only those undesired by society," Semirah answered. "The outcasts, the homeless, they were his targets at first. Then things changed about nine years ago. He was nearing his requirement of strength, so he could afford to be more liberal in his efforts, and started snatching adventurers from the far reaches of the lands."

Aleya pondered this in her mind. This couldn't be right. She had to have known about it, about mysterious disappearances and such. In fact, she could almost swear that she did, but why? How?

Semirah looked at Aleya. "Now, I have a question for you," she said, "Why did you quit adventuring?"

Immediately, Aleya's mind recalled the events of almost two years ago. Images flashed through her head, making connections with each other, vividly appearing in her mind's eye in an electrifying light show. Everything seemed to snap together as one single memory played out.

_-_

"_It's over, Siegfeld!"_

_So said Lineaux, champion of the Windurstian Alliance of Adventurers. They had finally cornered the dangerous criminal, Siegfeld, carrying out a mission given to them in utmost secrecy. He had been found trying to escape into a cave at the western end of the Valkurm Dunes. Lineaux had overcome Siegfeld's mysterious dark powers where no one else could, and defeated him in armed combat, striking a grevious blow to his lower back._

"_It's never over, fools!" Siegfeld replied in an unearthly voice. Then, seeming to snap out of a trance, he reached inside the pocket of his badly town overcloak, and yelled in his own voice, "Zen'Daurlum! Grant me your power!"_

_Then, the same harsh voice from before, like a thousand needles in one's heart, came from everywhere and nowhere at once. _YOU ARE BROKEN, SIEGFELD,_ it said, _YOU BARELY HAVE STRENGTH TO ESCAPE. YOU ARE USELESS TO ME.

"_No! Use your power, and heal me," Siegfeld pleaded, but he knew that it was too late. He had lost the favor of the crystal. "Please, what have I done to displease you so?" he cried, and fell forward, unconscious. In his hand, there was a crystal, black as night, radiating darkness. Lineaux pried it from the man's fingers._

"_I see...so he was deriving his power from this. I'll be keeping it, naturally, since I was the one who dealt the victorious blow."_

_Aleya spoke up. "No, it's clearly evil. You should give it to Shiroro, and let her decide what to do with it."_

"_I don't want it," Shiroro said, backing away._

"_Then let me take it," Relmm said, "And I'll destroy it!"_

"_No!" Lineaux clutched the crystal to his chest. "It was my kill, so it's my just reward!"_

"_Don't you see what it's doing to you?" James said, "Give it up, man, or it'll take you over!"_

"_Are you telling me I'm weak enough to let a mere crystal subvert me?!" Lineaux demanded, enraged. "Don't think you can judge me!"_

"_Lineaux, everyone can see it," Relmm said, pointing an accusing finger at him, "It's as plain as day in your face!"_

_Lineaux, at this point, was beyond reason. His knuckles were white from gripping the jewel, and his heart filled with hatred and rage for those who dare take his rightful treasure. He gave a great bellow, took his sword in hand, and dashed forward, straight at Relmm. She hadn't had a chance. Time froze for Aleya at that moment as her lover's face froze in surprise, her hands reaching up to clutch weakly at Lineaux's blade protruding from her chest._

_-_

Aleya put her hand to her own chest, feeling the sewed-over, inch long slit in her...no, in Relmm's custom tabard.

Just then, Lendolus reappeared, his face the color of mustard, but his expression rather refreshed. "Urrgh," he groaned, "I'm sorry about that. I feel much better now." He looked up at Aleya, whose face was contorted in horror. "What'd I miss?" he asked.

"Aleya?" Seles asked, "What's wrong? You look like you've seen a ghost."

"No..." Aleya replied shakily. Ever since that day, she hadn't allowed herself to think about it, and over a year, she had forcefully pushed it out of her memories, trying not to remember the day she died. Now, though, it seemed to be catching up with her. "It all makes sense now," she began, and went on to tell them her story.

-

"And after that, I don't know which among us started first, but before I knew it, we were all rushing towards him, and he was chanting," Aleya said. She had been talking for about an hour, and was just now getting around to finishing up her story. She had repeated it just as it had happened, but had left out her feelings for Relmm. "Just as I reached him, a portal opened behind him, and he leaped through, I tripped and stumbled through, and by the time I had reoriented myself with the ground, he was halfway up the hill to the entrance of Ifrit's Cauldron. The rest of my friends followed me, and we pursued him.

"We finally caught up with him. He pleaded with us, saying that it was a mistake, but we showed no mercy. I was surprised by Shiroro, who seemed almost as upset as I that Relmm had been...killed. It was her who blamed him. I, suspecting better, blamed it on the crystal he held, but there was to be no peace between him and Shiroro. We cornered him, but the crystal he was holding glowed with some strange antilight, and suddenly we were walking back through that portal. He probably still thinks we walked off on our own."

All were silent, until an attendant popped his head into the cabin. "Sir, ma'ams, we are about to land in Kazham. Please brace yourselves until the ship has come to a complete stop."

Lendolus groaned.

To be continued.

Like what you read? Didn't like it? Send me love or hate to jcaldora –(AT)- hotmail –(DOT)- com.

Thanks to Silvercry, my first reviewer, and to the WindyWarriors LS for their support, but I need more reviews and emails, people! I want to hear what you think of my story, be it good or bad.


	7. To Outshine the Sun

Dear Readers and Reviewers: I had a lot of trouble deciding how I wanted this chapter to run. I had already decided what was going to happen before one Mr Roy Fokker 99th submitted his comprehensive review. I think it's this review that saved me from going overboard with this chapter when I finally did decide to sit my butt down and write it up. With regards to it, and the rest of the uniformly excellent reviews I've received, I present Chapter 7.

Chapter 7

To Outshine the Sun

19

Kazham

Lendolus seemed to be looking far happier to be on the ground as the four walked out of customs. However, his joy of being earthbound once again was held in check by the fear he had of this place. Semirah noticed the slow in his pace as he walked past a certain point, but gave it no heed, and they walked on until they came to a cloaked figure in black. The person appeared to have been waiting for them.

"Ah," he said, "You have arrived. Please, follow me, and I'll take you to the hut that I have rented for you. There, I will tell you of your mission, which as you probably suspect, I first imparted to you through the Consulate."

"You were the one that appeared to the ambassador?" Aleya asked.

"I am. Please follow me."

They followed him to a hut on the outskirts of the tropic village. On their way, they passed through the village itself. Kazham was a lively place, which seemed to be bustling with as many adventurers, armed and ready to prove themselves in the wilds of Yuhtunga, as there were natives, ignoring for the most part the adventurers.

The atmosphere itself was anticipant; A grayish white light shone filtered through the trees above, giving the surface itself its own strange soft green midday twilight as a soft, warm breeze brought a scent of the rain to come. Yet, all of this seemed as if nature were holding its breath, just waiting for the events to come to pass.

Through the midst of raucous laughter and aloof indifference, the stranger led the four (Lendolus shrinking his profile as much as he could without cramping his neck) to the hut. This hut was set off a bit farther away from the others, and one couldn't tell its surroundings from the jungle itself. It was walled in by high banks of earth and stone, much as the rest of the town, but this locale had a sort of overgrown feel.

"You will rest here," the mystery man said. "I have things I wish to impart to you. Come." He beckoned, and they followed him inside.

Inside, the figure passed a handless sleeve in front of a candle, which flickered to life, filling the room with a warm glow. The hut was larger on the inside than it looked on the outside; there were no beds, but four sleeping mats, and what unmistakable looked like a kitchen. Unsure of what to do next, the four simply waited.

"Please, sit. Make yourselves comfortable," the robed man said. The four did so, and the man continued. "You may know that you face a threat called Zen'Daurlum. Zen'Daurlum was a member of an ancient race that was annihilated several hundred years ago. Zen'Daurlum would have been annihilated in the explosion that turned the rolling plains of Beaucedine into a frigid wasteland, had he not died but a day before. But the effects of the explosion were far-reaching. Though dead, killed by his own pride in the wilds of Vollbow, his soul had not departed his body when shockwaves from the blast shook the world.

"When the waves of pure energy hit his dead body, they forced his soul out of it and condensed it into a single black crystal. Blacker than night, it is the embodiment of Zen'Daurlum's hatred, malice, and pride."

The black-robed stranger went silent for a while, letting his words sink in before continuing. "This is the threat we face. The enemy has grown powerful over the years. Even I lack the power to oppose him."

"Then what chance do we stand?" Semirah asked, "You are obviously quite powerful, sir, and have apparently been at odds with Zen'Daurlum before."

"Though yes, I have known him once, the nature of my power is such that I cannot scratch him in such a form." Aleya searched the faceless cowl. She could've sworn there was something familiar about this man. He continued. "The strength needed to break his power is what I have sought, and ultimately, found. You four adventurers are the only ones who stand a chance against it."

"You speak as though you can judge our strength at a glance," Lendolus said.

"By sight? No, honorable half-breed, by sense." Lendolus scowled, puzzled. The man continued. "My mission for you is to infiltrate the last known hiding place of the enemy, a secret complex hidden within Mount Yuhtunga. You are to seek him out, and destroy him, with whatever means necessary."

"I'll do my best." To the surprise of everyone, Seles was the first to take up the task in earnest. Aleya, of course, was not far behind. Semirah and Lendolus both consented with an "I'll go too!" at the same time, and looked at each other, horrified.

"Excellent," the hooded figure said. "I'll take my leave of you; you should depart tomorrow. Goddess speed you." With that, he left.

-

When the rain that had started falling just after the stranger left stopped, it was still light outside, but it was nearing nighttime, and the village lamps were being lit. The four had sat in an uneasy silence. Seles sat in a chair against the wall, and looked out the opposite window. Aleya simply watched her unnoticed. Lendolus had taken up a harp and began playing a nostalgic tune, and Semirah, most agitated of the four, paced back and forth in front of the bedrolls. When the rain had let up to a light sprinkle, Lendolus stopped playing, and announced that he was leaving for a while, and would be back shortly. Semirah noticed a strange look on his face.

"I'm going after him," Semirah said when the rain stopped completely about ten minutes later. "Something's up."

"Okay, but don't pester him if he wants to be alone."

-

Lendolus stood just near Kazham Customs, beyond which was the Airship dock. It had been here that he was separated from his mother...forever. It was eight years ago, under these tropic trees, the same clouds, and in the same steady drizzle, that the killing arrow had been fired.

His mother had been the kindly type, completely unable to feel hate for anyone. For as long as he could remember, he had been her secret from the other citizens of Kazham. He had understood from an early age that his mother couldn't leave Kazham to take him somewhere safe because if she left, she would lose her place in the tribe. He was almost never allowed to leave home unless dressed as a girl, and always had to wear a hat to hide his lack of Mithran ears. And even then, he had had to stay out of sight of any guards. No one but he or his mother had known the truth about his existance...until they had been caught one rainy day, when he had forgotten a hat.

He sat down against the wall, right next to the spot where his mother had fallen. He imagined her lying there next to him...

"Hey," came Semirah's voice, "are you alright?"

"Funny," Lendolus remarked, "I don't remember you caring one way or the other about me. What happened to me being a halfling?"

"That's why I came. I want to settle things out between us once and for all."

"Then speak."

Semirah gathered her thoughts, and did just that. "First of all, I want to admit that I was wrong about being prejudiced against you for being a halfli—breed," she corrected herself. "I've thought it over, and I see no reason to hate someone for being born."

"Well, you're almost unique in that," Lendolus said, "Tell that to the whole rest of Kazham." He looked straight into Semirah's eyes. "Tell that to the one who shot my mother at this very spot."

Suddenly, it hit Semirah.

_She had been stationed in Kazham for two weeks as the Lieutenant Captain of the Guard. Since then, her authority to have people killed toward her master Siegfeld's goals had steadily increased. She had finished making her rounds for this rainy day, when a guardswoman ran up to her._

_"Orders from Senya-Rhita! There's been a violation of the foreign relation laws, and she's requested your assistance immediately!"_

_With that, the guardswoman ran off toward the docks. Semirah nocked an arrow to her bow, hoping for another chance to kill, hoping for another soul to send to her master._

"No..." she edged back, "I don't want to remember..." And she fell to her knees, sobbing.

Lendolus panicked. "Wait, it's not your fault."

Semirah shot him a look that said plainer than words, "What would _you_ know?"

"It's not your fault!" Lendolus repeated, "It's that damn crystal!"

"It wasn't just her," Semirah sobbed, "You think having your mother killed was bad, how about killing your _own_ mother?"

Lendolus stood, shocked. Could the evil of Zen'Daurlum truly run that deep? Immediately, all the bitterness he had been building up inside of him since they arrived in Kazham left him, leaving him feeling deflated. He had said it wasn't her fault, but only now did he mean it. Not knowing what to say, he walked over the the Mithra and put a comforting hand on her shoulder as she wept.

-

"Seles?"

"Yeah?"

Aleya paused, then asked, "Could you tell me about your world, the one you come from?"

"Well," Seles paused to think, "There's not much to say about it; it was pretty boring. In my world, everyone uses automatic machines to go places and do their jobs. The technology is very advanced; too advanced. People are becoming lazy, getting machines, cars, and computers to do their work for them. And in instances where technology isn't overdeveloped, it's underdeveloped."

"Such as...?"

"Well, if we had better medical equipment, my brother wouldn't have..." Seles shook her head.

"You mean...Sunder?"

"Did I tell that to you? During the last week?"

"Yeah. What was he like?"

Seles looked almost ready to cry. Aleya sat down next to her, and put her hand on her shoulder. "Don't cry," she said, "If it hurts that bad, just forget I asked."

Seles shuddered. "N-no. I want to talk about him."

"Then go ahead."

"Sunder was the best big brother in the world. Because Mom had to work to keep the family fed, Sunder basically raised me. He played with me, taught me, and protected me as I grew up. He was very kind to everyone around him, and I wanted to be just like him. He taught me almost everything I know, (I'm homeschooled," she explained, much to Aleya's puzzlement,) "and how to drive. That was how..." Seles broke down and wept.

"It was an accident with one of those machines you were talking about, wasn't it?" Aleya asked, gently massaging Seles' shoulder with her hand.

"Yes," Seles sobbed. "And I was driving. It was my fault." Uh-oh. Time to stop this line of thought immediately.

"Seles," Aleya said, "If it was an accident, how could it be your fault?"

"You don't understand!" Seles snapped, "It could've all been avoided if I hadn't tried to hold out longer against the weather!"

Aleya turned to her and took her by the shoulders. "I don't know much about your world, Seles, but common sense tells me that whether it's this world or your world, the weather cannot be accurately predicted. Whatever circumstantial weather you may have had, you couldn't have known, so stop blaming yourself!" Aleya let go of her. "I just want you to be happy." There was no way she could tell her she loved her, not now, when her emotions were so volatile. That would have to do.

They sat in silence again until Lendolus and Semirah returned. By now it was completely dark. "We should get some sleep," Semirah said, having composed herself.

"Good idea," Aleya said. "Oh, before I forget..." She dug in her bag. "Seles, this belongs to you."

"A diary?" Seles said, opening the book. "Wait, this is my handwriting!"

"Good night, Seles," Aleya said.

-

Seles stayed up a little longer than the other three, reading the entries in her journal. During this, something powerful was happening within her. It was as if she were reading a book about someone else, then realizing that someone was her. However, she was getting very drowsy. The last passage read,

_I don't think I fully realized how much I missed Aleya until I saw her again in that cave, and I'll never forget the way my heart jumped when I saw her, alive. She's my only true friend in this world, and there's just about nothing I wouldn't do for her._

But she couldn't dwell on these words presently, as she was drifting off into slumber.

-

_Eventually they broke apart enough for her to look Seles in the eye. "Seles, how..." she asked, at a loss for words, and finally concluding with, "It's impossible..."_

_"No, it's _not_," Seles said fiercely, as if it were all a dream, as if it were impossible, and somehow Aleya's words could jinx her to wake up. "You're here, and we're here, and I'm never letting you go!" With this, she tightened her hold on the smaller woman._

Seles woke with a start, and sat up straight. Her mind jerked into gear from sleep and raced at the speed of light. She said simply, "I remember..."

Immediately, there was a problem. She was sure that she had fallen in love with Aleya in the last week. However, now she had the memories of seventeen years of society telling her that homosexuality was wrong. She was almost sure that she never would've allowed herself to fall in love with her if she hadn't lost her memory.

So, this was the problem: On one hand, she knew she loved Aleya, and wanted to do anything possible to be with her, to tell her. On the other hand, those years spent in a homophobic society had a hold on her mind. Presently, she looked over at Aleya. She was still sleeping soundly, and she looked so beautiful and serene that Seles' heart nearly broke as she cursed herself for looking. What she needed was to settle the conflict between her heart and her mind, and she decided she would do that before she told anyone anything.

Then she noticed something else; Lendolus, who had been sleeping on the other side of her, was gone. On top of his bedroll was a note:

_I've gone to pay my respects to the dead. Meet me by the Yuhtunga gate for departure at ten o' clock. We spend the night in the Jungle, and infiltrate the mountain tomorrow._

_-Len_

Seles glanced out the window. The sun had just risen, throwing a warm, golden glow over the huts and boardwalks and canopies of the jungle. She judged it to be about seven, so they had three hours to prepare. She probably wouldn't come to terms with her past in just three hours, but after they defeated this Zen'Daurlum, she would have all the time in the world.

-

Aleya woke to see Seles finishing putting on her armor and swordbelt. "Oh, did I oversleep? You should've woken me," she said.

Seles said nothing, but finished pulling on her gauntlets, with a rather absent look on her face.

"Hello? Seles?" Aleya asked.

Seles snapped out of her reverie and blushed furiously. "Oh! S-s-sorry!" she stammered.

"What are you thinking so hard about?" Aleya asked, curious.

Seles blushed even deeper. "N-nothing! Nothing at all. And no, you haven't overslept."

"Oh, that's good," said Aleya, who was still too half-asleep to notice that something was truly bothering Seles. She got up, and put on her custom tabard, waiting until Seles wasn't looking to exchange her sleeping cap for her feathered chapeau. She girded herself with the Epee she had always used before she had retired. She hadn't drawn that switch-thin tempered mythril rapier for two years now.

By now, Semirah was also up. Having slept in her armor, she needed no preparation. She took one look at Lendolus' note, and left the cottage.

"Let's take a look around town," Aleya announced, "I have a friend I want to see."

So, gathering their belongings, they left the small cottage that their beneficiary had rented for them, and set off under a brilliant blue morning sky.

-

Lendolus stopped at a grave, reading the name. This grave was outside Kazham to the east, on the opposite side from the cottage, in a clearing where the sun shone through a small hole in the canopy of the trees. There were a few other graves, but not many. The Mithra believed in retiring their dead to the earth of the Jungle with no memoir save in their hearts. Only the most devoted followers of Altana ever marked the graves of their dead. This grave in particular read,

Sanurah

849-885

Rest in Peace

Taking a flower he had picked on his way from the cottage, he placed it at the foot of the gravestone. He stood back, staring at it a little longer, and started when a voice other than his own spoke.

"I named my wyvern Anurah after her, too. It was the least I could do," Semirah said, stepping out from the shadows.

"Not Sanurah?" Lendolus asked.

"No. While Anurah is very precious to me, it symbolizes that she can never replace my mother."

"Semirah...I don't know what to say," Lendolus admitted. "All those years I felt bitter, and now it comes to nothing. I owe you an apology."

"No. It's I who owe you one...for my bias against half-breeds," Semirah said.

"Then let's be friends," Lendolus said, and offered his hand.

"Agreed," Semirah said, showing the first smile Lendolus had ever seen on her face, and shook his hand. In a comfortable, reflecting silence, they walked back toward Kazham.

-

"Aleya, is that you!"

"Ravhyn! Look at you, Captain of the Guard! You've moved up in the world!"

Such was the exchange between Aleya and Ravhyn at the gate to Yuhtunga.

"Well, there was no one else..." Ravhyn grinned sheepishly, and pointed to a passing group of adventurers. "And besides, someone has to keep these ruffians in line."

"Hey, don't forget that we were some of those ruffians themselves!" Aleya said.

"How could I ever forget those times?" Ravhyn laughed. "Speaking of which, how are Shiroro and the gang?"

"Shiroro's doing just fine, and Resin too. I haven't talked to James or Frutu in a while, though."

"And..." Ravhyn began to ask, but thought better of it. "Never mind."

"No, don't worry, I've come to terms with...with the past. With Relmm," she corrected herself. "By the way, I want you to meet my friend, Seles."

Seles had been listening to this exchange halfheartedly, and was snapped out of her subconcious by her inclusion. Keeping her demeanor smooth, she shook Ravhyn's hand. "I'm Seles. Nice to meet you."

"Ravhyn. The pleasure's mine. So, what brings the two of you here to Kazham?"

"We're here with two others to investigate Mount Yuhtunga."

"Oh," Ravhyn's face darkened slightly, "It's about time. Listen, we've had problems with adventurers going too close to that place for a couple of weeks now. They've been going near, and never returning."

"Well, we're going to get to the bottom of this," Aleya said.

"Oh, good, you're here," Lendolus called from a ways away. He and Semirah hurried toward them. "Are we all ready?" he asked as he stopped in front of them.

"I'm ready!" Aleya said.

"I guess," Seles responded.

"Goddess speed you," Ravhyn said as they each mounted a Chocobo. Captain Ravhyn watched them speed off into the jungle. "And good luck," she said.

20

Ears

The Yuhtunga Jungle was breathtaking. The sun filtered down through the thick canopy of trees, its light turning green, bathing the earthen floor in an idyllic, warm atmosphere. The air here was rather warm, the heat trapped under the treetops.

As they traveled onward and eastward, though, a change became apparent in their surroundings. The birds stopped calling. The frogs stopped chirruping. All signs of fauna grew faint and eventually stopped. It had gotten to the point at which not a sound could be heard save for the breeze and their footsteps when Seles said, "Um, guys, do you notice anything missing?"

"It has gotten rather quiet," Semirah ventured.

"It's as if every living thing is trying to flee," Lendolus said, "Look to the trees!"

The trees themselves were slanted backwards, all of them leaning towards the west. Though these trees were no less alive than any others they had seen, there was something up ahead that they didn't like.

"There can be no doubt as to what's causing this," Aleya said, and continued forward.

Seles stepped quickly after her. "Aleya, wait," she called.

Aleya turned back to look at her. "Yes?"

Seles floundered, wondering why she had done that. "Never mind," she said, cursing herself and hoping that Aleya wouldn't read anything into it.

They continued in an uncomfortable silence for a while longer, until the sun became low in what they could see of the sky, and Aleya called a halt. "We'll set camp here. I don't think it'll rain tonight, so we'll sleep under the stars."

-

The four sat around the fire Lendolus had started. The jungle around them still held the same eerie stillness. Nothing moved around them. The trees, heavily slanted, filtered a cool breeze through their branches.

Seles had been wrestling with her emotions for the better part of the journey, but sitting here, watching Aleya, she could no longer stand her own indecisiveness. At that moment, she no longer cared what other people might think of her, so long as she could tell Aleya how she felt. "Aleya," she said, "Can I talk to you alone?"

Aleya wasn't one to refuse. "Okay."

Seles led her somewhat away from the campfire. She waited until they were well out of range of the others' hearing, then stopped.

"So, what's this about?" Aleya asked, half hopeful, half fearing. "You can't have brought me out here to chat."

"Aleya," Seles said, wanting to get the hardest part out of the way first, "I remember."

"Everything?"

"Everything." Tears were streaming down her cheeks. "I'm so sorry I didn't tell you this morning, but I remember everything that happened." Seles composed herself. What she said next could either make Aleya hers, or driver her away forever, but she couldn't give in to fear.

Aleya, however, was a step ahead of her, and lifted her hand to Seles' face. "Seles, if you remember, I meant what I said back there on the goblin boat."

Seles' eyes widened. "You mean..."

"I love you."

And at that moment, nothing else existed for Seles. Even the wind, rustling the leaves above them, seemed to fall silent. Then, she found herself holding Aleya tightly to herself, and pressing her lips to Aleya's. They broke the kiss for a moment to look into each other's eyes and register the joy shining through their expressions.

"I never thought anyone could be this happy," Seles said, "Aleya, I love you too! I wanted to tell you, but...I was being a coward again. I was afraid of what people would think of me. I guess I still am, but it doesn't matter anymore. I love you," she said, repeating the words she was becoming addicted to saying, to hearing.

They held each other for a while longer, repeating those magical words, kissing passionately. Seles reveled at having discovered these powerful new feelings, and Aleya marveled that she could still love something so deeply. Nothing existed for them but each other.

Then, overcome by a powerful desire to run her hands through Aleya's hair, she removed the smaller woman's chapeau.

There, amidst tresses of shoulder-length dark brown hair, protruded a pair of Elvaan ears.

Aleya staggered back, a look of horror on her face. "N-no..." She had sworn to herself that no one would ever see those shameful ears. That was exactly what they were, shameful. She had been taught as much, the notion drilled into her by her Hume father before he took his own life. She was an aboriginal. An outcast.

She ran.

-

She didn't run far, though, before she collapsed, weeping. Seles caught up to her quickly, and stroked Aleya's back comfortingly. A half Elvaan. Her complexion was darker than most Humes Seles had seen, though she was nowhere near as lanky as the Elvaan. Instead, she had the shapely form of a Hume.

"Aleya," Seles ventured, "It's not wrong."

"Yes," Aleya sobbed, "Yes it is. I'm a half-breed, Seles. I don't deser..."

Seles took Aleya by the shoulders and turned her around, looking into her eyes. "Don't deserve what?" she asked, "To live? Because you're a half-breed?" She took Aleya's face in her hands. "You're hating yourself for what you were born as! Im my world, I was taught that it's wrong to hate anyone for who they are. Have you not seen Lendolus and Semirah? They made up easily enough!"

Seles' words made sense. "But..." she started, and Seles put a finger to her mouth.

"The reason I didn't tell you from the moment I regained my memory that I loved you was because I was afraid what other people would think of me for loving another woman," Seles explained. "The only reason I was able to tell you was that it started not to matter, as long as I could tell you, and look where it got us." She withdrew her finger, and gave Aleya a long kiss, then pulled back as she took one of Aleya's long ears in her hand, rubbing it gently. It was very soft to the touch. "I love you no less for these."

At last, the wall Aleya had built between herself and her origins came crumbling down, and she collapsed into the larger woman's arms, weeping uncontrollably.

-

A bit later, she had calmed down, and cheered up considerably. Well, 'cheered up' is a bit of an understatement. Aleya was overjoyed at the idea that to be of mixed origin wasn't inherently immoral. At present, Seles and herself were sitting at the foot of a tree, caressing each other, and speaking to eath other in sweet, wordless murmurs.

Aleya halted this, pulling away to look in her lover's eyes. "Seles, do you remember on the goblin boat, when you told me how ashamed you were that you ran?"

"Yes. Why?"

"Well...I've been thinking about it."

Seles stared back. "And?"

"You were scared, weren't you?"

"I don't follow."

"You were scared that you might mess up, and scared that I might think you were coming on to me, and got so caught up that you didn't think about running, you just did it."

Seles blushed. "How did you know?"

"It's pretty easy to see, especually after all you told me about being afraid of your self-image."

"Y-yes. It's true." Seles reached over and ran a hand through Aleya's hair, stroking her ear as she went. She could hardly believe that this was real, having been brought up in a "real world" that she now cared nothing for. "I'm sorry, Aleya."

"Seles, I want you to promise me something."

"Anything," Seles responded truthfully.

"I don't ever want you to be afraid to do whatever you feel you need to do to keep me safe, just as I would promise to do for you."

Seles nodded. There really was no point in being afraid anyway. "I promise."

Aleya's face outshone the sun. She leaned over and kissed Seles, sliding her arms around the larger woman's body.

-

Semirah and Lendolus sat in front of a campfire reduced to glowing coals.

"Lendolus," Semirah asked, "What are you going to do, once this is over?"

"I dunno," Lendolus answered, "It already feels like we've been adventuring together forever, hasn't it?"

"Indeed, it does."

"Well, first thing I'm going to do, is I'm going to go back to Bildo, my employer. I'll be paid handsomely for apprehending Graft." Lendolus always carried two flasks on his person; one of water, and the other of whiskey. From the latter he removed the stopper, and took a swig.

"And then?" asked Semirah, her ears perking.

"I don't know. I might go back to Mhaura, I have friends there. If what Siegfeld said was true, there may be someone there who knows what happened to Lineaux. He was the man who took me from Kazham. What about you?

"I'm not sure myself. Once I defeat Zen'Daurlum, I will have avenged those I was made to kill. I don't know what I'll do, once there is no one left to avenge."

They sat in silence for a time. Semirah was becoming more and more agitated, her ears twitching.

"Shouldn't Aleya and Seles be back by now?" asked Lendolus. "They've been gone for almost two hours. What could they be doing?"

"I honestly don't know," Semirah said, lying through her teeth and twitching her ears again. "Is that whiskey I smell?"

"It is."

"May I have some?"

Lendolus handed the flask to Semirah, who drank just enough to no longer care about what her acute Mithran senses were picking up, and laid back on her bedroll, handing the flask back. "Good night, Lendolus."

-

Morning came with great foreboding. Lendolus awoke, not remembering having fallen asleep, to see that sometime during the night, Aleya and Seles had returned, and were curled up next to each other in their bedrolls. This was a little puzzling. However, all the same, he walked over the them and gently shook Aleya, who woke, and began trying to wake Seles as Lendolus walked over to Semirah. Just before he touched her, she jerked awake, rolled away from him, and got out of her bedroll as if she had been awake all the time.

The morning passed uneventfully for the four as they struck camp and made east by northeast. Lendolus and Semirah chatted about small things, and Seles and Aleya walked very close together; just being near each other was good enough. Finally, cresting a rise in the jungle, they saw Mount Yuhtunga sprawled out before them and towering above them. Smoke drifted lazily out of it's top. There was something very wrong about this mountain, something almost palpable in the air around them. They exchanged significant glances, then marched forward, towards the mountain, Zen'Daurlum, and destiny.

-

Zen'Daurlum sensed them from afar. He had gathered all the souls he needed, and the enemy was playing right into his hands. Things couldn't be better.

Though, it would be best to test them, first.

Reaching out across the inexorable link between himself and the bodies of the souls he had devoured, he summoned to him a handful of his most able Soulless, and gave them his orders. Five elite soulless went running out down the mountain. Many more stayed.

Graft heard soft laughter within his mind that would not stop, no matter how hard he tried to shut it out.

Questions? Comments? Praise? Flames? Send them to jcaldora –(AT)- hotmail –(DOT)- com, or more preferrably, make yourself heard by submitting a review! It's quick and painless, I promise. .

Edited: Rereading this, I realize there are errors in the dialogue betoween Seles, Aleya, and Ravhyn preceding the departure from Kazham. This has been corrected.


	8. Culmination of a Succession

Chapter 8

Culmination of a Succession

21

Stranger

"We're being marked."

Seles shifted unconsciously at Semirah's remark, reflexively reaching for her shield. "By what?" she asked.

"I don't know, but even the monsters in this area have fled," remarked Lendolus, "Whatever it is, it's sentient."

Aleya fingered the hilt of her Epee warily. She felt as if she were being stared at, and not by anything human. She looked at Seles with volumes unspoken in her eyes, and Seles nodded. Drawing her sword and unslinging her shield, she adopted a ready stance.

Not one of them spoke a word. The entire jungle was silent. Mount Yuhtunga, rising above them as a shadow in the sky, regarded them with indifference.

This silence was shattered by a rustling of leaves to the side. Everyone turned, but the first figure was already sprinting for Aleya with inhuman speed. Immediately, Seles sprang forward, holding her shield out in front of them. The shield resounded with a clang! and Seles was sent sprawling from the force of the blow. The thing turned to face them, and regarded them with uncaring, depthless eyes.

"Soulless!" Semirah shouted, "Anurah! To me!" and leapt high into the air. From out of the sky came the wyvern, raking the soulless with its claws. Semirah fell upon her foe with her spear pointed downwards, aiming for the chest, but she was bombarded in mid-flight by another Soulless. Both Semirah and the Soulless crashed to the ground.

Seles tried to reach out to this new foe with her mind, trying to rip its attention away as she had on the first day with the Orcs...but there was nothing to rip. There was nothing there. Semirah struggled to her feet to see the second Soulless racing for her, but just as she brought up the shaft of her spear in defense, it faltered, an arrow through its chest. Semirah changed tactics and easily dodged the heavy swing of its great-sword. It, however, showed no signs of slowing as it immediately charged at her anew, ignoring the arrowhead protruding from its mail.

Meanwhile, Seles was having problems of her own. Protecting everyone was her top priority, but she couldn't take on two of these things. She had her hands full with this one, which wielded a Kunai knife in each hand, and rather skillfully. It was all she could do to parry with her sword or deflect with her shield its lightning fast strikes.

Aleya, meanwhile, had remembered a useful little spell, and had begun chanting. Three golden rings surrounded Seles, and there was a ticking sound that seemed to be getting...faster? No, the world was getting slower, or so it seemed. Suddenly, she could see reason to the madness that was the lithe Soulless; its movements suddenly became clear as they slowed. The world hadn't slowed by much, but it was just enough time for her to duck one of its swipes and deliver a swift slash to its stomach. Then it was over. The world sped back up. The Soulless staggered, and then redoubled its attack.

Lendolus stared for a second. His first arrow pierced his target exactly, and yet the target was nearly unfazed. Then he nocked another arrow, took aim, and fired. His second shot went straight through its head. Semirah had been successfully deflecting its blows, but the arrow through its head caused it to flail wildly, changing its attack due to its malfunctioning brain. Instead of bringing the great-sword up over itself and down upon her, it swung to the side, dealing a harsh blow to her side. It tried to swing again, but suddenly the air around it began to sizzle and crackle with heat, and it erupted into flame as Aleya chanted. This seemed to stop it. It screamed in a grating voice as it fell to the ground, writhing in the flames.

_Aha,_ Aleya thought, _they hate fire!_ Immediately, she turned to the Soulless that Seles was struggling with, but Semirah was already there, ignoring the gash in the side of her mail and flesh, impaling it through its chest on her spear. The Soulless dropped its knives and gripped the spear, attempting to forcefully shove it out of its body. It would have succeeded quite easily, but Seles was there, and with one great swing of her sword, took its head clean off. Immediately, it fell limp. Semirah put a foot to the attacker and wrenched her spear free.

"Are you all okay?" Aleya asked.

"Semirah isn't," Seles responded.

"It's nothing. Just a scratch," Semirah said, but doubled over, clutching her side.

"You need help," Seles said, stepping forward, but Aleya caught her arm gently, and gave her a look that said, 'Let me.' Seles nodded, and stepped back. Lendolus marveled at the silent communication between them, almost as if they knew each other so well they could read each other's faces.

Aleya knelt, and began chanting an advanced healing spell. Semirah gasped, her wound suddenly icy cold as the air around it began to shimmer and sparkle with blue energy. She could barely feel the wound closing up, leaving a faint scar as the coldness went away, leaving the mellow cool feeling of having just been healed.

An Elvaan woman with deadened eyes and a blank expression watched the scene carefully, assessing her foes' strengths. She wanted nothing better than to kill them where they stood, but Master's orders were absolute.

_Wait until they come a little closer, then kill them. Wait for the opportune moment._

But, having no mind, she could not keep herself from the delicious smell of life, and the even more delectable screams that would come of ending it.

The next attack came just as suddenly as the next attack. If Lendolus had not been right next to Aleya, he wouldn't have been able to pull her out of the path of another soulless, which crashed into the ground, and rose slowly. The soulless Elvaan made once again for Aleya, brandishing a cruel-looking dagger, but was stopped again as Seles jumped at her, holding her shield before her, and bashed the Elvaan with her shield. The soulless, however, was almost completely unfazed, and attempted a slash to the throat of this new annoyance. The dagger stopped suddenly just inches in front of its target, and jerked. The soulless Elvaan was lifted into the air briskly and thrown off of a black sword with a gold lining into a nearby tree.

The four turned to stare at the newcomer, cloaked in grey, as with lightning speed, it charged at the Elvaan with a fury none of them had ever seen, making sure it couldn't move before it slowed its assault.

The grey stranger stood, and sheathed its sword.

"You saved me," Seles said, "Thank you."

The grey one regarded her silently.

"Can't you talk?" Aleya asked.

The grey stranger turned and walked toward the mountain. After a few paces, it stopped, and looked back.

"It wants us to follow," Lendolus said.

The figure nodded wordlessly, and turned back toward the mountain. The four adventurers followed.

The harsh midday sun blazed on as a strange procession trudged up Mount Yuhtunga. Around them, lush jungle turned to blackened and charred lava fields. Leading was the strange grey-robed figure. Following behind was Semirah, wondering at their strange leader, and keeping alert for any more Soulless. Lendolus was not far behind. Bringing up the rear were Seles and Aleya, walking close together. Seles, though overjoyed simply to be with Aleya, was wary. Their mission still wasn't over, and whatever her feelings were, they had work to do.

"Lendolus," Aleya called, having finally decided to get something off her mind.

"Yeah?" Lendolus fell back to walk with the two.

"You've been trying to attract me for three years now, but lately you've barely said a word to me," Aleya stated, and asked, "Is it Semirah?"

Lendolus' face turned shades of red. "Hardly!"

"Then what?" Aleya asked.

"Well..." Lendolus blushed even deeper. "You being taken and all..."

"Humm? You believed me when I told you?"

"Well...err...not 'till recently. You and, err, Seles."

Aleya's eyebrows shot up. Seles, who had been listening in, gave a start. "How long have you known?" Aleya asked.

"Since we busted into your cell in Graft's dungeon," Lendolus said, his blush fading, and a showy expression replacing his shy one. "It was pretty easy to see; I pride myself on knowing whether the ladies in love (usually with myself, I don't pay attention when they love others) by their faces."

"I...see," Aleya said.

Several yards ahead of them, Semirah chuckled to herself.

It was at that moment that the figure leading them up the mountain brought them to a halt by holding up a grey-gloved hand. It pointed to a doorway in the side of the mountain.

22

Graft

Once they were inside, the grey-robe followed them in. The floor was polished black, probably volcanic glass. They were in a large hall. Pillars of the same black volcanic glass supported a ceiling high above, and purple crystals fastened to the walls shone an eerie light upon the place.

"Fitting," Lendolus voiced their thoughts.

"It does seem the place to hatch an evil scheme or two," agreed Aleya.

"So, where do we go from here?" Seles asked.

"There's nowhere else to go but forward," spoke the grey-robe for the first time. In the near utter silence of the expansive hall, the dry, rasping whisper, though faint, resounded clearly. No one could tell its gender, or even its species. It was right, though. There was only one other exit at the other end of the hall. The four friends and the grey stranger leading them walked on, and through the other door, they found another hall, exactly the same as the one before.

"Is this some sort of joke?" Semirah asked as they walked to the opposite end of this duplicate hall. The grey-robe led them on still, to another hall.

"This is the same as the first two!" Seles said, frustrated. Aleya, becoming unsure, looked back through the door they had just entered, just to make sure, and made a gasp of surprise.

"It's gone!" Aleya exclaimed. Everyone rushed back, save for the figure, which simply stopped and waited. Through the door they had just come through was not a hall exactly like this, but a wide featureless corridor.

"What about our 'friend'?" Lendolus asked. The grey-robe was still standing in the middle of the hall, silent, obviously waiting for them to follow him.

"I don't think he'll lead us where we want to go," Seles said.

"Then, let's go," Semirah said.

The grey-robe watched them go. Behind its faceless cowl, a small smile shone.

"I can feel it," Seles said as she touched the door at the end of the corridor. "It's here." Aleya looked at her questioningly, and the look Seles returned answered everything unspoken.

"Zen'Daurlum," Aleya said.

"And Graft," Semirah added.

"What're we waitin' for?" Lendolus asked.

It opened into a study. It was rather large; shelves of books decorated the walls at random places, and there were a few tables lined with scientific instruments. In the center of the room, there was an obsidian pedestal gilded in sinister patterns, but it was currently unoccupied. As the door closed behind them, they saw someone behind the pedestal. It was a Mithra, clad in extremely tarnished armor, and staring at them with Soulless eyes.

"What the..." Lendolus exclaimed as the Mithra, wielding a great-sword in one hand with as much ease as a butter knife, leapt at them over the pedestal. It swung its sword, and though it was blunt, it knocked Semirah down. It swung again without pause, this time at Seles, but Seles had her shield out in an instant, and held it before her. The blow, however, was so strong that she was knocked across the room and into the wall. Lendolus fired an arrow, which thudded into the soulless' back. The Mithra turned, and rushed him. His arrow was rewarded with a slash to the chest, and he dropped the ground. The soulless started marching toward Aleya, who had already started chanting. She produced a ball of fire in her hand, which she threw at the advancing Soulless. It burst into flame then and there, shrieking. Its armor seemed to burn with it, and it was consumed with flames until there was nothing left. Aleya and Seles (who was only slightly fazed) immediately took to healing Lendolus.

"So nice of you to drop by," said a dry, grating voice behind them. They looked back as Graft slammed the door. "So nice. This is my house now, and you are trespassing."

Graft was tall, with satin black hair down just below his ears. He wore a black coat with gilded stitching, and a cape with black shoulder pads hung down around him, black on the outside and red on the inside.

"Where's Lineaux?" Lendolus demanded.

"Hah! I had no more use for that fool. He's probably tipping his oversized hat to his ancestors by now."

Driven by rage, and with a mind exceptionally clear from being recently healed, Lendolus drew an arrow in a split second and fired. The shaft passed through a disappearing Graft and tinked harmlessly against the closed door. Lendolus spun around and nocked another arrow to his bow, but Semirah, shooting him a warning look, forced his aim down.

"Now, now," came Graft's voice from behind the empty pedestal, "That's not very gentlemanly. Now, pray tell before you die, what business did worms such as you have with Lord Graft?"

"We're not here for you!" Seles called, turning to face him. "We're here for your master. Where is he?"

"Can't you see?" Graft motioned to the empty pedestal before him, an all-knowing smile creeping across his face. "My master isn't here. Just me."

"He's lying. I can see it in his eyes," Aleya said.

"Be on your guard," said Semirah, unslinging her spear.

"What if I am?" Graft asked. "What does it matter to worms? Soon this world will be mine. My master will give me this world, and I will be exalted above all others!"

"Did Zen'Daurlum tell you that?" Seles asked, putting a hand on the hilt of her sword.

"How dare you speak Master's name?"

"Easily," Seles said. "We're here to destroy him. Tell us where he is."

"I'll tell it to your dead faces," Graft said, and charged at them, brandishing a darksteel dagger. The four readied themselves as Graft advanced, but Graft stopped scant paces in front of them, and drove his blade into the floor.

Seles gasped in pain. Needles and pins stabbed her from her soles, spreading upward. She couldn't move them, her muscles were locking up, and it was spreading quickly upward.

"I can't move!" Aleya said, in the same situation.

"I'll cut you down one by one now!" Graft said, pulling the blade out of the floor, and walked toward Seles. He swung at her neck...

...And by sheer will, she forced her muscles to respond, and brought her sword up to parry.

"How can you still move?" Graft demanded, outraged, and continuing to swing at her. "What is it that drives you? Why won't you _die_!"

"Life," Seles said, parrying his blows, "and love. They drive me." There was a pattern to his attacks...

"Useless illusions!" Graft said with another thrust that Seles parried. "Life is short and love is meaningless."

"They're all I have," Seles said, "and I'm going to defend them!" Graft would strike here, and... Seles parried a blow that would have struck off her head, and gave another swing, but turned it into a thrust.

Graft dropped his dagger, and clutched unbelieving at the blade in his stomach. "I...you...how...I am absolute...Master! Come unto me...Destroy these worms!"

"Don't you see?" Aleya asked, "Your master has deserted you. You were deceived; he will take this world for himself; he will destroy you when he finds a body to truly inhabit."

"No!" Graft yelled, and shoved himself off Seles' sword. He staggered back, and fell, supporting himself with his arm. He began to smile. "No, you're wrong. His power is mine, with which to do as I wish!"

A crystal, black as night and emanating antilight appeared on the pedestal behind him. The crystal glowed darker and darker, and Seles' mind became filled with a red haze. It was intoxicating, and confounding. Stars began to swirl around her eyes. She was dimly aware that the other were in the same predicament. Semirah dropped to the ground outright.

"No!" Seles said, and stepped forward, swinging wildly and drunkenly with her sword. Graft tried to stagger back, but her blade lodged in his shoulder, and then his other arm, and then the side of his throat as Lendolus and Aleya sank to the floor. Seles was blinded now, and she lifted heavy limbs to walk forward, swinging, but she soon found she lacked the strength.

"Aleya, I'm sorry..." she said, and let her muscles go limp. Down she spiraled, into a red haze.

23

Misgivings

Before Semirah stood a Mithra kitten. On what they were standing, she could not see, for all was dark around her. All she could see was the child.

"You killed her!" the child whimpered, "You killed Mama!"

"I had to, to serve my contractor," Semirah answered, feeling apathetically detached.

"You killed her!" the child pointed accusingly, "You killed Mama! You bad lady!"

"I had to," Semirah answered nervously, "Or my boss would've killed me."

"You killed her!" the child wailed, "You should die!" In the child's arms appeared a Mithra, dead, with an arrow through her chest. Semirah started. It was Sanurah, her own mother, and the child was Semirah herself, save for about twenty years.

"I...I'm sorry," Semirah told herself twenty years prior. "Is there anything I can do?"

"You can go kill yourself!" Child-Semirah said petulantly. The words, _kill yourself!_ echoed from unseen places so that it seemed like she was surrounded by a multitude, all crying for her death.

"No," Semirah sobbed, "No, I didn't mean to..."

_Kill yourself, kill yourself._

"Siegfeld...he made me..."

_Kill yourself, kill yourself._

"I tried...to take myself down with him..."

The dead Mithra turned her head toward her with depthless eyes, and spoke. "Then finish what you started."

"No!" Semirah shouted, and brandished her spear. "You're not my mother!" The cacophony of echoes stopped. She raised the shaft above her head, and with both hands, stuck it in right beside the arrow shaft.

That was when everything disappeared.

Lendolus walked forward on nothing. In front of him was Semirah, walking away from him. He ran to catch up. "Hey, Semirah!" he called.

She turned around, and seeing him, sneered. "Oh, it's the half-breed. What, then, come to cry to me because the other Mithra call you names? They're right, you know."

"What's your problem? Where are we?" Lendolus asked.

"Aww. Is the halfling confused? Of course, he would be, dumb male that he is."

"What's gotten into you?"

"You know what we do to illegitimate halfbloods here in Kazham, don't you?"

_No, don't kill Mother!_

"You're crazy," Lendolus said, backing away, "Stay away from me!"

"What a pity, too. I liked you."

"What?" Lendolus froze. There were a thousand questions he would've liked to ask on this subject, but Semirah was nocking an arrow to her bow...only it wasn't an arrow, it was her spear, and she was aiming...

Lendolus, on pure instinct, drew an arrow of his own and fired without thinking. His arrow lodged in her chest, and the spear fired, but both Mithra and spear vanished.

_What have I done?_ was his last thought before everything disappeared.

"Aleya, there you are," Relmm called.

Aleya turned, and was caught up in her old lover's embrace. "I've missed you," Relmm breathed ecstatically.

"You? How?" Aleya asked incredulously.

"What does it matter?" Relmm asked, her smoldering eyes burning into Aleya's inquisitive ones.

"You're dead. Lineaux killed you."

"Yes," the raven-haired woman answered, dropping her gaze, "I am."

"But I'm alive. I know it. This must be an illusion."

"If it is, then it is a good one because we are here together."

"But I have to go back." Aleya said. She didn't know why, but she just had to. "How do I get back?"

"Why would you want to go back?" Relmm asked, looking a little hurt.

"I have work to do."

"It can't be that important," Relmm said.

"Oh, yes it is, terribly important."

"Surely not more important than me. Don't you love me? Stay here with me," she pleaded, and began caressing her hands down Aleya's back. "Surely, this is real."

"Relmm, I loved you, but you're dead. I need to go back." She wasn't so sure though. Relmm was so good with her hands, and it _felt_ real. She wasn't sure she wanted this to stop, and she couldn't remember exactly why she wanted to go back...or to where.

"Stay here with me," Relmm repeated, gliding her hand up Aleya's thigh, "and we can live here, together, alone."

"No, this isn't right." Aleya wanted to pull away, but didn't want that hand to stop.

"What does it matter? You're here, and I'm here, and I'm never letting you go."

Aleya's heart skipped a beat. She had heard these words before. And the one who had spoken them...

"Seles." Aleya said, and pulled away.

"How's that?" Relmm asked.

"There's someone I have to see again. I have to go."

"No, you can't go," Relmm pleaded. "I need you!"

"Relmm, you're dead, and I'm leaving." Aleya began walking away.

"Is she that important to you?" Relmm asked.

Aleya stopped.

"Do you love her?"

"Yes." Aleya said unashamedly.

Relmm staggered back. "No, how could you? You said...you promised...you..."

"I'm sorry," Aleya said, turning around, "But I can't mourn forever! Of course you're not real; the real Relmm would've wanted me to move on with my life!"

"No!" Relmm sobbed. "You liar! You heartless cheating _bitch_!" She charged at Aleya with an Epee in hand. Aleya drew her own sword, and parried the first thrust. The fight lasted mere seconds. The pattern to Relmm's attacks was so predictable a child could see through it. Aleya judged carefully, parried a thrust, and made a thrust of her own.

"I'm sorry, Relmm," Aleya said as her former lover disappeared. Then she whited out.

She woke up on an obsidian floor. Her mind was miraculously clear. Around her, her companions arose. Lendolus and Semirah exchanged significant looks, but kept silent. Seles was another story. She buried herself in Aleya's arms and her face in her shoulder.

"Aleya, I'm so sorry, I would never abandon you! I told you I'd protect you forever, and I'll never break my promise!" And with that, she wept uncontrollably. Aleya rubbed her back with a comforting hand. It wasn't hard to guess what illusion she had gone through.

Lendolus, though, was having misgivings about this. Wasn't it the black crystal that had made them pass out? If that red haze was gone, then what had happened to Zen'Daurlum?

He looked over at the pedestal. It was vacant once more. "Guys, where's..." he began to say, but the warning on the tip of his tongue was immediately replaced by one far more urgent as his eyes were drawn to Seles and Aleya. Seles was sobbing into Aleya's shoulder...

And holding Graft's dagger pointed at her back.

To be concluded.

Review, email at jcaldora -(AT)- hotmail -(DOT)- com, appraise me, flame me, or just babble meaninglessly. Just let me know you exist, readers!


	9. Fleeting Memories

Hey everyone, thank you for your wonderful, wonderful support. I can't believe I found time to finish this. Major spoiler warning here. I mean, really big-ass major spoilers.

Chapter 9

Fleeting Memories

24

Betrayal

-

His awareness expanded, and sharpened at once. He could feel a body around him. Not the eternally cold-yet-burning crystal. Not the crystal. Never again. Sensations he had once forgotten flooded him. He could feel weight, he could feel his body. He could feel the thick armor around his body. He heard the echoing clinks the armor gave as he willed his new body to sit up and, drawing breath, smelled air laden with a sulphuric, yet metallic scent. Luxuriating in the sensations his awareness was receiving in this living body, Zen'daurlum became aware of another awareness in this body's mind.

_Wh-what's going on!_ Ah, that must be the previous owner of this body.

_You took the crystal, you stupid twit,_ he shot back with cruel laughter, _Figure it out!_

_N...no..._ came the horrified reply, _Get...get out of my head!_

Zen'daurlum willed the muscles of his new arm to obey him, and he examined the gauntleted hand on the end of it, clenching it into a tight fist. "No," he smirked, testing out the girl's voice, "I think I'll keep this body." As Seles continued protesting, he stood up carefully, getting used to being encased in living flesh and muscle once more. It was much different than simply controlling his thralls through the crystal, sending overpowering mental persuasion and receiving raw mental registry; now, he had a mind _and_ a body.

Now that he thought about it, this body was different from what little he could remember of the one he had left behind centuries ago. The center of gravity was lower, and the chest was heavier. The body's muscles, however, were very limber. This body was decidedly female, but gender was irrelevant – this body was the only one capable of bearing his now massive awareness, perhaps because it wasn't any one of the five races, (though it could pass easily for a Hume,) but rather almost identical to a Zilart, as his old body had been. With this body and its genetic code, he could access and control the Focal Point, now called Delkfutt's Tower, and raise Tu'lia.

As he probed this mind, he touched something else...A memory! The girl's last memory before her body became his own, reaching out and taking the crystal before her in her hand, unable to resist its subversive attack on her mind as she pushed the crystal slowly into her chest – it slid in as if it were immaterial – and collapsing, blacking out...

He looked back through the other memories, but they felt...wrong somehow. As if, by touching them, feeling the emotions they portrayed, something very painfully itchy was twisting within his mind. He shoved those away, and with them, the girl's mind fled. That first one must have been safe because she had been under his power.

He walked over to Graft's now lifeless body – Graft's soul being the last he needed to shed his crystalline form, (though he knew the crystal still existed inside this body, it was irrelevant,) – and picked up his dagger.

As he did so, he heard this girl's companions stir, all at once. He knew the one in red from those damned memories. She would be the most dangerous, so he would have to kill her first. Thinking fast as she rose, sharing a look with the other two, Zen'daurlum hid the dagger behind his arm, screwed his new face into what he hoped was abject sorrow and longing, and rushed forward, burying his face in the shoulder of the clueless woman, babbling nonsense as he gripped the dagger, positioning it between the woman's spine and left shoulder blade...

"Hey guys, where's—" came the Ranger's voice, and then a horrified "Aleya! _WATCH OUT!_" Zen'daurlum looked up just to see the green-glad man hurtling at them, grabbing his dagger arm and swinging them both around, letting their momentum send them to the ground.

The Red Mage was up immediately, and himself not far behind. But, by the time he had awkwardly picked his new body up, he found the tip of her Epee at his throat.

"Let her go," she said calmly, yet forcefully.

Zen'daurlum cursed himself for his lack of foresight. He should've retreated when he had the chance, to the Tower, where the potent energies would reawaken the memory of his own powers. Even if these gave chase, they would be obliterated. He did what he could remember, though, and opened a portal behind him. A portal to the Tower's control room.

"I don't think so. Soon, thanks to this body, Vana'diel will be mine, and I will be it's...Goddess," he finished, mending the last word to embrace his new body's gender, and stepped backwards into the portal, closing it in front of him.

-

Seles.

_Don't want to get up..._

_Seles._

_Just a few more minutes..._

"Seles, wake up!"

Seles opened her eyes to blinding sunlight, filtered through a familiar quartered window. _I always hate it when Mum leaves the blinds open,_ came a random thought, and as she sat up groggily and looked around, it registered that she was back in her own room. She snapped awake, and immediately sought out the voice – it came from the golden-haired young man sitting on the arm of the couch she'd been sleeping on.

Her brother.

"Sunder...?" she asked wonderingly, "What's...going on here? Why am I..."

"We're inside your memory, Sis," came his reply. It was faint and echoing, as if he were speaking from the other end of a long pipe.

"But...then...you're just a memory?"

"No. I, at least, am real, if not truly alive at the moment. Here inside your memories, though, I am alive."

Seles, though overwhelmed just seeing her brother again, was devastated by his reply, and launched herself at him, weeping into his chest, repeating, "Oh, Sunder, Sunder, I'm so sorry...Oh, Brother..."

"Hush, sis," Sunder said, breaking away from her rib-creaking embrace and wiping away her tears. "I'm here for a reason," he said, "a very important reason. The world you've traveled to, Vana'diel, is in dire straits. I know you can remember why."

_-She gently slid the crystal inside her, feeling no piercing of skin, as if it were immaterial-_

Seles shuddered involuntarily. "I...yes. I remember."

"Sis," Sunder softly pronounced, "Only you can put a stop to it. All else is powerless against it."

"Me? But it's so powerful...I couldn't even move my body on my own! How am I going to..."

"Stop that," Sunder chastised. "The Seles I know wouldn't give up like that. You just have to know it's weakness. Remember how it shied away from your memories as if it were burned?"

Realization dawned on her face.

"But," Sunder continued before she could speak, "that's not everything; you will need to seize control, and then, you will need to destroy Zen'daurlum."

"How am I going to do that?" Seles asked, fearing the answer...but none came.

Instead, Sunder's voice seemed to come from farther away as her room shifted and warped around her: "Remember, use your memories."

"Brother, wait," she called after his flickering image.

"I love you, sis..."

-

25

Denied

"Damnit!" Aleya pounded her fist on the podium. "Why her?"

"Where'd she go?" Semirah asked.

"I didn't see..." Lendolus began, but faltered as he and Semirah jerked their heads towards the door, which was closing again behind the figure cloaked in grey that had led them from the foot of the mountain.

Only now, his hood was down, showing his face. The colors were very faded, and it had a barely substantial look to it. Grayish pale blond hair cascaded to his shoulders, framing his faded blue eyes.

The first thing that entered Aleya's mind was that he looked just like Seles.

"He went to Delkfutt's Tower," the man spoke simply. Like his appearance, the man's voice, though youthful, was also brittle and dry, gray like him. He went on before they could speak. "Zen'daurlum means to raise Tu'lia, the City in the Sky. This must not happen; the time has not come for it yet. He plans to conquer the world with that city and become a living deity." The words sounded strange coming from his calm voice.

"Okay, since you seem to know everything," Aleya asked bitterly, "Why Seles? Why did he choose her?"

"Zen'daurlum is a Zilart. Seles is from another world. By sheer coincidence, the genetic structure of the Zilart is almost identical to that of the dominant race of her world."

"Wait," Semirah said, her racing mind apparent on her face, "That would mean that Seles is a Zilart?"

The gray man chuckled wryly. "You could put it that way..."

Lendolus looked troubled. "That still doesn't change that she is halfway across the world from us at this moment."

The gray man chuckled again. "I can fix that too."

"Who _are_ you?" Aleya asked.

"A concerned friend," the man said as a portal opened behind him. He stepped to the side, and motioned to it. Beyond was a hallway of polished cermet, and at the end was a door.

"Wait," Semirah cautioned, "This could be a trap. He seems a bit too helpful..."

"It _does_ look like Delkfutt's though," Lendolus pointed out.

"And anything is better than staying here," Aleya added. "We've got to save her. I'm going," she said, stepping toward the portal, "Follow if you wish."

"If she's going, I'm going," Lendolus said.

"You people are too trusting..." Semirah muttered under her breath, but followed them all the same.

"Goddess speed," the gray man chuckled as they stepped, one after another, into the portal.

Behind them, a rather large spiral staircase descended into lavender mist. All around them was white cermet. The floor, the walls, the intricately ornate doors.

And at the end of the hall in front of them...

-

"Access denied. Unknown barrier is blocking the data path." Thus came a disembodied voice that echoed throughout the room.

"Damnit! Damnitall!" Zen'daurlum swore as he pounded the fist of his new body on the console. How could he not have anticipated this? "The Maiden...of course, it was sealed by the Maiden! I'll have to find her first..."

"You won't be finding much of anything, Zen'daurlum," yelled Aleya from across the room. "I think Seles would rather be dead and free of you than live like this!"

Zen'daurlum continued staring at the console, shoulders shaking with rage. "You think your precious Seles is still here? She fled like the coward she is. She resides in this body no longer."

"Seles is _not_ a coward!" Aleya shouted. "And we will not allow you to reign in this world!"

Zen'daurlum entered a command into the console, and the room began humming. He stood up, and turned to face the three. "How you worms got here so quickly is beyond me, but it's too late now. The second I entered this tower it was too late."

"Regeneration complete. Subject now at ninety-eight percent capability," came a disembodied voice, and Zen'daurlum smirked...and began levitating.

"Right now, I am brimming with the power I lost during my imprisonment, and you worms are no match! If I can't have the City in the Sky, I'll tear down this world piece by piece, starting with **you**!" With this last word, he unsheathed Seles' sword as he hurtled forward through midair towards Aleya. He missed by millimeters as Aleya dodged to the side, but immediately, he was right there, bearing down on her with Seles' sword. The Epee flashed to parry, but the possessed woman was already making another move. It was all Aleya could do to defend, and by three more moves, the Zilart would have her unguarded, when...

"Haa!" came Semirah's cry, and Seles turned to defend against the Mithra's spear. Between the two of them, they drove Zen'daurlum back toward the spiral stairwell, slowly but surely. Lendolus could do little but watch; the three were too close together and moving too fast for him to get a clear shot. Then, just as Aleya thought they'd break through the Zilart's defense, he lowered the sword and raised one hand. Immediately, the two were thrown back by a wave of searing white pain. Lendolus saw his chance, and loosed an arrow straight at Seles' face. Zen'daurlum, however, waved a hand, and the arrow bounced off something unseen that sounded metallic in mid-flight.

"You see now, my power!" Zen'daurlum crowed triumphantly in Seles' voice, floating towards the two women in front of him. "There is very little I can't do. I could flay you, keeping you alive by a bare thread, killing you slowly, over weeks... months... years... I can take my time. I have forever to take this world as my own. I could break your minds. You could be made to serve me unquestioningly, a part of your mind screaming in agony as you did horrible things to your fellow races at my command..." The Zilart sneered. "But, I'm feeling merciful. I'll keep your deaths short...perhaps a day or so. Then, I'll be free to..." he faltered, his eyes losing focus for a split second. "Free to..." Then Seles' eyes widened, and Zen'daurlum gasped involuntarily.

-

26

Stairwell

Zen'daurlum's awareness cringed as Seles summoned memories of her brother – _Crying into his shoulder in fear of the thunderstorm –_ and flung them at him inside her mind. "What in blazes are you doing?" that voice came. "I thought you'd fled!"

"I won't go down so easily!" Seles snapped, and flung another memory – _Sitting in the garden, sipping tea with Mum and Sunder _– and Zen'daurlum retaliated, flaying her awareness with sheer mental power. Seles screamed in silent pain.

-

The three companions looked on as Seles' face writhed into a dozen different expressions at once. "What's happening?" Semirah wondered.

"Your guess is as good as mine, but he's dropped his guard! Now's the time to attack!" With this, Lendolus nocked an arrow, but Aleya, realization on her face, reached out and forced his aim down.

"No! She's fighting him!" Aleya stepped forward and called in encouragement. "Fight it, Seles! Fight it!"

-

Seles was too deeply entrenched in the battle inside her mind to hear her lover's cheer. Desperately, she directed every memory she could muster at the Zilart's awareness, but for some reason, Zen'daurlum was still fighting back, searing her mind with fluorescent sparks. She couldn't take control of her body like this; she needed something stronger...

Then, in an instant of sheer inspiration inspired by desperation, the thought hit her.

Aleya.

– _Dinner at the Steaming Sheep –_ _Riding in the carriage to San d'Oria – clinging to her in the depths of Graft's compound – leaning ever closer to her on the deck of the Goblin dinghy – flooding with emotion as she held her close, their lips locked together as her hands worked – _

Her mind was weak from the mental battle with the hostile awareness inside her, and the time she'd spent here with Aleya had been so short, so they were little more than fleeting memories...

But they were enough. The emotion, the _love_ they were laced with flayed Zen'daurlum's presence, and she wrapped it in those memories.

-

Seles' face contorted once more into a look of sheer surprise and pain, as if she had been shot with an arrow...then she screamed, and collapsed to the ground.

"Seles!" Aleya shouted, and dashed forward. But even as she did, Seles began to pick herself up; moving awkwardly as she mentally explored the potential of the power she now brimmed with. Reaching her, Aleya took one look into Seles' eyes, the beautiful crystal blue, not the horrible red of the Zilart...and pulled her face to her own, tears streaming down her face as she kissed the one she loved.

After a moment, Seles broke away. She knew now what she had to do. "Zen'daurlum is still there. Inside me. As long as the crystal is in here..." she placed a hand on her chest. "He could still break free, he might overcome my memories. I have to destroy him." With this, she levitated, and floated backwards towards the stairwell, raising her sword.

Aleya's eyes widened. "You can't!"

"You said it yourself, Aleya. I would rather die than live another second like this. And if it's to keep you safe..."

"You can't do this!" Aleya sobbed. "Not now, it's too soon..."

"I won't see you killed, or be made a slave!" Seles said, raising the tip of her sword to her chest, fitting it between the joint of the plates of her armor. "I love you too much for that."

And with all her might, she shoved it in, cringing at the pain as the steel pierced her. All present felt and heard a shattering resounding all about them, and a resounding, disembodied scream beyond agony: "**_NOOOOOOOO!_**" Seles thrust it through until the hilt touched her chest...and she began to fall.

Semirah and Lendolus rushed forward to restrain Aleya. "Let...go!" she demanded, but her two friends had firm grips on her arms. Nevertheless, they were pulled with her to the rail. "Seles," she sobbed as she struggled, "I'll go with you...anywhere! Even to death!"

Then, Semirah used one hand to turn Aleya's head around, and the other to deliver a full armed slap. "Stop it, Aleya. You're being a damn fool! She died for _you_. So that _you_ didn't have to!"

"Have _you_ ever had someone you love with all your heart die in front of you?" Aleya retorted.

_– Her mother, dead in her arms – _Semirah's voice was laced with steel. "I've _killed_ someone I loved. Don't talk to me about loved ones."

"I have to go with her," Aleya said, a dead look in her eyes. "If I can't be with her, I have nothing left in this world." Desperately, she made another lunge towards the rail, and...

...Stopped, even before Lendolus and Semirah grabbed her hands. Her jaw hung slightly at the sight before her.

-

From the summit of Mount Yuhtunga, Sunder, the Gray Man, looked northeast, over the horizon. A single tear rolled down his cheek before he closed his eyes and disappeared.

-

The sky over the Bastore Sea was cloudy on the night of Shiroro and Resin-Rosun's journey to Selbina to cure a sick sheep. It could have been her mind playing tricks on her, but Shiroro could swear she could see the sky to the north lighting up. Suddenly, she wondered how Aleya and Seles were doing.

-

From the summit of Mount Ghelsba, Gruk, the Horror of Ghelsba, looked into the west. The dark cloudy sky had turned a faint flourescent blue, and the bugbear stared in awe at something it had never seen before.

-

Humanoid figures, luminescent and ethereal, were floating upwards. A few figures became a dozen, a hundred, too many to count. Lendolus, Semirah and Aleya stared in awe as the souls swallowed by the dread crystal raced upward. They could make out the faces. An old Galka, a handsome Elvaan, a stocky Hume, and countless hundreds more. An overpowering sense of release, relief, and joy radiated from them, but it did not pierce Aleya's dead, leaden heart.

-

Two black cloaked figures stood on the northernmost arch of the Ru'Lude Gardens. In the distance, what looked like a stream of blue fireflies was spiraling upward and outward from Delkfutt's Tower.

"Brother," the smaller figure asked.

"Yes?" the larger one replied.

"It is over, is it not? Our rival is dead."

"Indeed. Pitiful excuse for a Zilart. Now nothing hinders us. We are free to search for the Maiden at our leisure."

"And then, Tu'Lia will be ours," Eald'narche spoke as a half-question.

"Yes, little brother," Kam'lanaut answered, and smiled confidently.

-

Epilogue

The Soul that Never Came

Semirah sobbed as her mother drifted away from her brief visit, rejoining the swirling vortex of freed souls. "She...really loves me..." Lendolus was already on his knees, weeping; he had been visited by his mother and the father he had never known. Aleya leaned out over the rail still, waiting.

Seconds turned into minutes, and minutes into hours as she waited for her lover's soul to appear before her. As the flood of souls began to thin, and she began to see faces she recognized, a dreadful foreboding filled her. The souls were drifting up in chronological order, first consumed to last. Seles would be at the end, but what if she didn't...

Then, the last soul drifted up towards her. The spirit of Graft looked sorrowfully upon the party. 'I see,' came his voice inside their heads. 'So I was wrong...'

"Wait!" Aleya called. "What about Seles?"

'The girl? I do not know. I am the last one. Thank you,' he added, 'for freeing me. Goodbye...' With that, he floated onward, upward, with a look of hope Aleya could never have imagined on his face.

"If Seles didn't..." Aleya began, her heart racing almost as fast as her mind, "Then she..." Immediately, driven by a feeling unfathomable, she chanted a spell, and flew down the stairs at an amazing speed, leaving Lendolus and Semirah panting to catch up.

Seles' body was intact at the bottom of the stairwell. The fall should've dashed her on the floor from that height, but...something had broken her fall. It must have been whatever force had been keeping her afloat, that it didn't all dissipate the moment she... This brought her to look at the sword. She had fallen on her back, and the sword was jutting out at an odd angle. Horrified at the sight, Aleya stumbled towards her.

-

Semirah and Lendolus reached the bottom of the stairwell, panting. "I can't do it!" Aleya sobbed. "I've healed her wounds...she'd be perfectly healthy if...but damn it, I can't raise her!" As Aleya began chanting anew, Lendolus looked over at the sword laying beside the fallen girl, stained with drying blood. He picked it up, and wiped the blood off on his tunic. It wouldn't do to have this sword stained with it's owner's blood.

-

"Raise!" Aleya cried at the end of her chant. She was kneeling beside her lover, holding Seles' hand tightly in hers. She began chanting again. It _had_ to work... "Raise!" How much longer could she keep this up? "Raise!" _Don't leave me here!_ "Raise!" _Oh, please..._ "Raise..." _Oh, Goddess Altana..._ "...Raise, oh please, raise..." And with that, she collapsed, burying her head into the chest from which she had removed Seles' armor, and sobbed, utterly spent.

This was it. This was the end. It all ended here, on the floor of the stairwell. Just as she considered reaching for Seles' sword, to follow her into oblivion, even her hope betrayed her, making her imagine she was hearing a faint heartbeat...

No...

The heartbeat was real.

Seles was...

Aleya sat up on her knees, forlorn hope shining on her face. "Seles..."

Slowly, Seles opened her eyes.

The end.

Dear Readers,  
About a year ago, I started writing a little piece of fiction to act simply as an outlet for my imagination. It was a little story about how a Hume woman stepped into Bastok and met another Hume woman who would become her best friend and more, and an incompetent dropout villian who plotted their demise. I was going to end it rather quickly and put it in hard storage to open it years later and laugh at my poor attempt at writing, but that was not to be.  
It was suggested to me by a friend that I should keep writing, flesh the story out, and give it feeling, and - this was an entirely new concept to me - publish it. I kept writing, and thanks to encouragement and admonishment from readers like you, I kept getting more and more ideas for the plot, and it slowly transformed from a playful pastime into a serious, powerfully emotional work. It was with your help that I made Fleeting Memories what it is today.  
I want to thank the entirety of the WindyWarriors linkshell from Fenrir, former and surviving members alike, for their friendship during my time playing Final Fantasy XI; especially Shiroro (luv you and miss you!), Ravynne (lick lick .), Jamesbond, Frootloops, Resin, Relmm (lick lick .), Imzadi, Bildo (pokes the magic Bildo), Jingex, Linkz, Senorita, Mitsugaia (luv you too!), and Anitalynn. I want to thank my best friends: Christa, Bill, Brittanie, and one who wishes to be referred to only as Ziegfeld, for their support.  
I want to thank every book, movie, and video game that has been an inspiration to me in writing this. The list of these goes on too long to recite here.  
Most of all, I want to thank you all for taking the time to read my first published work.  
If I ever return to Final Fantasy XI, (Though it is looking more and more unlikely,) look for Aleya on Fenrir.

With regards,  
Iris Josephine "Aleya" Caldora


End file.
